Atolah - Relics

Another killer release from a Australian band, this time is its a EP from Atolah who hail from Perth, Western Australia. The quality of bands from there never ceases to amaze me and this one of the best of the bunch from down-under. Atolah is a three piece Sludge Doom band made up of Pierre on bass, Zaheer on guitar and J-B on drums. The style and sound is in the mould of classic Stoner Doom outfits like Electric Wizard, Goatsnake but with a distantly crusty flavor and there is no vocals. Do there need vocals?, the answer is not at all. The EP is out on the great "PsycheDOOMelic" label and they must feel right at home with a sound like this. Monster riffs move and groove and all backed up with pounding drum work that completes a sound that is full but with a jammy feel to the numbers. The bass sound is particularly groovy, swirling and throbbing to produce a groove that is as doomy as it is like a Psychedelic Sludge Fest. The songs seem to revolve around the bass lines and the bass lines are real infectious, take a listen to "Weedy Gonzales" if you want to hear some serious bass grooves. There is no weak tracks here and all of the five tracks have a instantly recognizable sound about them but without directly sounding like anybody else. My pick for the strongest track would be “Down it or Leave It” which similar to the other tracks in its basic but compelling approach and once again the bass is right out in front. The guys have been playing around for a while now in various other bands that I have never heard of but after hearing this some further investigation is a must. They also have a appearance coming up on the "Where The Beast Shits" split with "Karbonized Traitor" and also a place on the "Zodiac Arrest" compilation, both due out 2010. This is a exciting release that warrants attention from anyone into the Sludge/Doom genre but even more so if you like music with a jammy feeling. While the sound is a bit raw and the riffs a little basic, the amount of bass groove pushes the EP into a league of its own and certainly shows great promise to the future. At under 30 minutes, its short but long enough for a EP and I am sure if you pick up a copy of this it will be in your play-list at least till a full length album from Atolah comes along. For me I hope that is as soon as humanly possible because this is some fine Sludge N Roll. 9/10

www.myspace.com/atolah