With their full-fat sludge sound and grizzled appearance, Howl certainly look like your average Relapse band. That’s far from a criticism as the aforementioned label has an unbeaten knack for putting out killer records that sound like they were recorded in a swamp, and the fact that Howl hail from Providence, Rhode Island suggests that location is no barrier to those who want to tune down and riff for Dixie.
Bloodlines, the follow-up to 2010’s well received Full Of Hell is no one trick pony however. Far more progressive in scope than you may have thought, it’s a record full of menace, downbeat vibes, and shit-kicking riffs. Opening track ‘Attrition’ is built around an iron-hard groove that burrows into your frontal lobe like some parasitic insect hungry for brains. ‘Midnight Eyes’ quickly follows with its clinical percussion and full-throated growls, and you soon realise that these guys have little interest in being part of some small clique of Eyehategod worshippers. Bloodlines has a sound that could be more accurately described as DevilDriver covering Buzzoven. The sludgy riffs have been given an edgier, more sheet-metal sound that hits hard and fast, as the rapid assaults of ‘Demonic’ and ‘One Last Nail’ attests to.
The pace slows down with the grimy dirge of ‘Down So Low’ with the simplicity of the guitars building at atmosphere of tension with knowing intent. Again, the emphasis is on the groove, as the sheer power on display becomes all-consuming. That’s before we are nearly knocked off our feet by the searing barrage of ‘Your Hell Begins’ with its punishing blastbeats and layered screams. Things take a more traditional turn on the southern-fried ‘With a Blade’, although the strength of the songwriting and general air of nastiness ensures that proceedings have no chance of lapsing into parody. Vocalist Vincent Hausman really impresses on ‘The Mouth Of Madness’, stretching his scorched throat to breaking point with each bellowed proclamation and growled threat, helping to make the breakdown (yes, a breakdown!) sound just that little bit more evil.
It’s a safe bet to say that Howl will win many more fans with this release. This is one of the most mainstream sounding extreme metal albums in quite some time and occupies a centre ground where the likes of Goatwhore dwell, and could break out of if maybe they ditched the silly arm gauntlets. Bloodlines features enough powerful riffs and angry attitude to sate the mainstream, while the underground will dig the overall feeling of doom and hatred. Did I mention the utterly stellar songwriting? Go grab a copy of Bloodlines before Howl become too cool for you to admit you like them and be quick about it!
8/10
James Conway