The Crotals? Is there an ‘s’ missing here? Are you sure? Ok, so they really are called The Crotals, but there’s nothing missing in terms of balls when it comes to their sound. They promise a sound that ‘combines sludgy, stoner riffs with oppressive punk rhythms and serrated vocals distilling pure venom’ on an album that’s touted as being ‘heavily tense and scuzzy’ and likely to appeal to fans of High On Fire, Black Cobra and Bison B.C.
A couple of muddy-sounding samples and then they’re off, piledriving into ‘Lipstick on a Pig’, which is built around a snarling, lurching riff that explodes all over a low-down and dirty bass. The vocals are positively subterranean, croaking and barking dryly as all hell breaks loose.
The mix pushes the guitars to the fore, the vocals to the bottom and really accentuates the thunderous force of the rhythm section, which drives – and drives, and drives, relentlessly – the high-octane riffing. ‘Slave of Damnation’ is a classic headbangin’ blues-based monster boogie, and the strangled anguish of ‘Mississipi’ is simply punishing.
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In all, ‘Fuel! Flames! Blast!’ lives up to the exclamatory and explosive title, and when it comes to balls-out riffing, you have to hand it to The Crotals for not holding back.
The Crotals Online
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