Preaching the "End-Time" Message is a collection of alternate versions, 7" tracks, demos, and live cuts, all of them recorded with a pair of mikes on a four-track. The heaviest band ever to come from New Orleans understands sludge and drudge, murk and purge better than any veteran group to come from the alternative metal universe. These cats play slow with a deep reliance on bone-shattering riffs à la their heroes,
Black Sabbath and
the Melvins. They also make that limited palette work for them in ways one can't imagine until actually slipping the disc into the box. Standout cuts include "Sabbath Jam," "Age of Bootcamp," and the live version of "Jackass in the Will of God." Solid, perverse, pissed off, and full of low-end distortion and pain. ~ Thom Jurek