Single Mothers - Our Pleasure
Big Scary Monsters | Release Date: 16th June 2017 Suffocation - …Of The Dark Light
Nuclear Blast Records | Release Date: 9th June 2017
Single Mothers are a truly unique band; No one else
sounds like them, no one else performs like them, and
no one else is them! That is why their second full length
album Our Pleasure is an album to digest and to enjoy
in abundance. Following on from their 2014 debut
album Negative Qualities, Single Mothers have spent
three years nurturing their talent to create an album
that is more together and more polished, or at least
as polished as punk can get! Where Negative Qualities
was messy, erratic and poorly produced, Our Pleasure
is much more shiny and bold. There are still the frantic
urgencies of chaos, for example Well-Wisher could
easily fit in with the craziness that the likes of Marbles
creates, but songs such as Leash and People Are Pets
show us another side of Single Mothers, one that gives
us the opportunity to sing along the way we would for
our favourite indie bands. The riffs of Rollercoaster
and High Speed get you moving, whilst the bounce of
Undercover gets you grooving, and the Weezer-esque
melodies of Bolt Cutters is just the cherry on top of a
rad album. New Yorks legends of death metal Suffocation return with
their eighth album entitled …Of The Dark Light, and it
proves without doubt that the band are still masters of their
craft to the highest level!
One of the highlights of Our Pleasure is the continually
unique voice that vocalist Andrew Thomson has
to offer. It is him that makes Single Mothers such
an attraction, and him who accents the whirling
instruments around him in a way that makes them
alluring. Our Pleasure offers an extra string in the bow
of Single Mothers and it sure is exciting. Who knows
what album three will have to offer…
Words by Alice Hoddinott
The technical genius of the band has been a standout for
them since they began back in the early 1990s, and is still
very much at the forefront of their sound. That combined
with the pummelling nature of the music means that …Of
The Dark Light is very much a must have album for all fans
of death metal.
Suffocation have had a lineup change for this album (their
new drummer and rhythm guitarist joined last year), but you
cannot hear the difference as their chemistry as a unit remains
untouchable, and when you hear songs like Your Last Breaths,
Return To The Abyss and Some Things Should Be Left Alone,
you would think that they had been playing together forever!
The deathly groove that Suffocation are known for is there
throughout, and it is great to hear new material from the
band with Frank Mullen, in particular showing why he is one
of the (if not, the) most formidable vocalists in metal. This
combined with astounding performances and spellbinding
guitar skills from Terrance Hobbs proving again what a
phenomenal player he is means that Suffocation are really on
top of their game with this album!
Even if you have a passing interest in death metal, this is a
must have album and shows exactly why Suffocation are such
a highly regarded band in the Music industry!
Words by Gavin Brown
www.eliteonlinemag.com
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