Sealclubber is an excellent name for a metal band, isn’t it? It brings up all kind of unpleasant images and no doubt scare all the grandmas. Luckily this sludgy quartet from the UK’s West Midlands make music that’s as repellent as the moniker suggests.

Stoical (Medusa Crush) is the Black Country band’s debut; 45 minutes of abrasive sludge, hardcore and general noise. It’s unrelenting, largely unpleasant, and devoid of anything as superfluous as melodies or hooks.

Opener ‘Tales of a Romanian Horse Whisperer’ grinds away at you for nine minutes, a brief solo and near ambient phase around the five-minute mark act as a brief reprieve. ‘Haima’ is a furious barrage with vocalist Simon Blewitt sounding like he’s ready to burst a blood vessel. ‘Catalogue of Failings’ is a lumbering monster that drips with reverb, one point slowing down to the point it almost grinds to a halt.

This kind of chaotic noise is normally best taken in small doses. But rather than lots of short, sharp, punk-like hits, nearly two-thirds of Stoical’s 45-minute runtime is contained within just three songs. That said, each track has its own distinct style, and the two tracks that make up the second half of the album are a surprising juxtaposition to the first. The 8-minutes of ‘Vow of Silence’ oozes eerie atmospheric doom with the odd moment of brutality, while the near 12-minutes of album closer ‘I Only Desire The Things That will Destroy Me’ almost strays into shoegaze territory before kicking into life just before the end.

If you’re looking for a cathartic mass of noise, Stoical is essential listening. Uncompromising, unpleasant, yet managing to avoid being unlistenable (just), Sealclubber have created an album befitting their name. Heavy, yet with a few surprises in the second half.

6.0/10

DAN SWINHOE