Alpha 1128 (Seeing Red Records) is the debut album from LA-based Cattlemass. They are a band that crosses heavy sludge with Hawkwind-like vocals. They do not get started roaring like lumberjacks, which makes them more interesting than most of the bands doing this sort of thing. More aggressive than doom, their strength as a band lies in the fact that they are not afraid of taking chances, nor are they slaves to the sludge bible. To their credit, they are also not just another band that is smoking weed and trying to be Black Sabbath. The chanted drone of the vocals seems to be the approach they are sticking with, going into the second song. The chug is a little faster on this one. 

They slow down to a more deliberate lumber on “The Wizard,” though three songs into this album, and it finds the uniform vocal approach starts to create a one-dimensional feel to the songwriting. While this style of singing served them well at first, pushing it further than the first three songs is going to be overkill. There are a few growled accents that sit further back in the massive wall of fuzzed-out guitar. “Nachthexen” finds its vocalist trying to sing more and chant less. Any effort is appreciated. There is a gang chant to the chorus, but it’s enough of a change to work. 

“Replicant” finds some interesting sounds grinding out in its groove. The vocals have a similar sound but are phrased with enough of a shift in the syncopation to work. ‘Infecticide’ has a deliberate sludge rumble that borders on doom, one of the album’s darker songs, though the vocals fall back into their comfortable pattern. They close the album with an instrumental, which finds the band wandering into a more psychedelically infused style of jamming that carries a kraut-rock throb.

This is not the darkest or most drug-plagued album when it comes to 2025’s sludge/doom menu. These guys are nevertheless great at what they do, even with the uniform nature of the vocals hampering the overall sense of dynamics at times. Some people do not pay attention to vocals, so they might not be bothered by this. I am prone to think they are also on the same crossover point on the Venn Diagram as the one percent of the population as sociopaths. But maybe vocals are something that is not a dealbreaker for you, and you are in the market for a sludge with a seventies vibe that is more chill than the new RWAKE, then these guys are for you.

Buy the album here:
https://cattlemass.bandcamp.com/album/alpha-1128-2

8 / 10
WIL CIFER
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