Let's do this. I'm going to try to be unbiased in my future reviews. This one is nothing but hype and sarcasm. Let me know if its annoying but im going to write this one from the hip.
Dooms. Tons of types of Doom. Death Doom, Funeral Doom, Traditional Doom, Industrial Doom, Sludge Doom. Fuckin A, I can go all night. But what makes doom so versatile and subjective to all kinds of other influence? The mother fucking riff. When you get the riff worship down, you're good to go with Doom. Acrimony has the riff down, smokes the mass amounts weed, and bring an upbeat vibe to a genre known for being dark and depressive. Acrimony was a Stoner Doom band from Wales who released a nice discography with occasional hits and misses. They started with little Stoner influence, worked up to their masterpiece Tumuli Shroomaroom and closed on a split with Church of Misery. Still, it saddens me that they are no more and will never be. BUT we have Tumuli Shroomaroom and need not take it for granted.
Hymns to the Stone is proof that bands like Sleep, Kyuss, blah blah other 90's Stoner Doom, are out classed. Acrimony didn't start the game, they simply upped the anny. Slow crushing guitars begin this track, a riff that lingers for a couple minutes with little variation, calls you to roll up a joint, to listen through the haze. Then the drums pick up the song with a thunderous beat driven by the toms and the song starts to devastate. Guitar solos, drums solos, bass solos, bong hits, a quick hint at what you're soon to hear. And as soon as you're head banging away with a huge ass smile on your face, incoming. Doom. Better yet, Psychedelic Doom. Nothing gets me more pumped than a far out doom riff. Slowly the song cresendos into a mesmerizing ending. Plenty of guitar layers with trippy clean vocals. If you listen to a song on Tumuli Shroomaroom too many times, it will be this song.
As for the rest of the album, it's classic. The three songs at the end have more mass lasting over 10 minutes each, giving this album a nice fat ass. Heavy Feather stands out the most to me. Plenty of soloing, tempo changes, and of course the riffing is uncompromisable. Only one song on the album is instrumental, the 2 minute acoustic passage Turn the Page, that serves no real purpose but I usually don't skip over it. I sense the bass player and the drummer had a real connection going on, making this album as strong as it is. Million Year Summer is a good example of how the fluent rhythm holds the fort while the guitars noodle through thick delay and wah pedals. Ahh the Atmosphere. All in all there is no weakest link. I'm not really sure why Acrimony is left out of need to know bands but at least they found their way into my heart.
If you're a vinyl collector, Leaf Hound re-issued AND remastered this beast, put it in a stunning full colored gatefold and sold it for something like $20. Get yourself a copy. Those fuzzy guitars are just blessing my ears with the sounds of summer waiting for you to join.
FOR FANS OF: Earthride, The Atomic Bitchwax, Led Zeppelin, guitar harmonizing, pot smoking, and Summer.
Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:17 am by metalfutte
Subject: Acrimony - Tumuli Shroomaroom 
