The
Motörhead/
Melvins-loving, Savannah, Georgia-based stoner/sludge/punk metal unit's much anticipated sophomore studio outing,
Pillars of Ash is a straight-up haymaker of an album; an oil-stained middle finger rising out of the brackish water of a swamp forest. The last
Black Tusk offering to feature bass player Jonathan Athon, who passed away in November 2014 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, the 11-track set is both workmanlike and punitive, and its charms are rank and crust-lined. Stand-out cuts like "God's on Vacation," "Black Tide," "Still Not Well," and "Desolation in Endless Times" are blast furnace-forged and spilling over with pit sweat, and what they lack in melody and nuance they more than make up for in pure, groove-laden hardcore goodness. Like their fellow Peach State decibel-pushers
Baroness, who also had to overcome a bout with misfortune,
Black Tusk have found that the best way to distill despair is via absolute volume, and
Pillars of Ash is defiantly cacophonous. [
Pillars of Ash was also released on LP.] ~ James Christopher Monger