Megasus - S/T

Megasus from Providence, RI all work for Harmonix, the video game company behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band and i don't if that does their credibility any good or not but there you go. They did start off as a one-off project formed to contribute a track for Guitar Hero II but they have become a fully working band with a debut album out on 20 Buck Spin Records but this sounds like the type of record that Rise Above Records would normally put out. They have been given the Doom tag but this is closer to High On Fire than it is to Electric Wizard. It has a heavy layer of psychedelic influence, with sludgy guitars and mildly distorted vocals.The production reminds me of High On Fire’s Surrounded By Thieves, with a muddy guitar sound but drums sure pack a punch. At times the drums almost seem too loud in the mix and they tend to over-shadowed the riffs but that's just a minor detail. The album has got one problem and that is its inconsistency, when its good it is very good but there is a couple of weak tracks on here that really hurt the album seeing the whole thing is over in under 40 minutes. Having said that there is still a lot to like about this album which has a more modern sound and influences than a lot of other bands in the Doom/Stoner Rock scene.

The one thing that makes them a little different is they embrace the old subject matter from old classic metal like mythology, wizards etc. Maybe they spend a lot of time listening or reading Dio lyrics but the songs are total old school in the lyrical department but everything else sounds more modern. "Red Lottery" might be the best of the slower tracks sounding a little like a Pentagram track. The track "Megasus" is available for download in Rock Band and if you are going to name a song after your band it better be a good tune. Thankfully this track is indeed good, the song has some frenetic energy with drumming that is reminiscent of High On Fire’s Des Kensel, with drum rolls all over the place. "Paladin vs. Berserker" has a good metal groove, Guitarist Ryan Lesser and bassist Paul Lyons are mostly in step, but Lyons seems way higher in the mix which makes the sound un-balanced and add that to the loud crashing drums and it sounds a little messy in places.

"Ten Kingdoms" and "Hexes/Szaadek" are tracks that work pretty well and the performance of front-man Jason Kendall is at his peak during these two tracks. "Swords" and "Iron Mountain" come and go sounding like filler to me, not bad tracks at all but just a little aimless. The album was originally intended as a digital download but they did manage to find a company willing to press 200 copies of the album on vinyl. In conclusion, this not a album you will listen to everyday but there is enough good material on here for the occasional spin and the potential is there for better releases in the future. If you like a Doom sound that is played at faster than normal tempos for a so called Doom/Sludge/Stoner band, you may like this. At the end of the day, this left me a little confused. It’s a little too inconsistent of an album to be considered a classic, but the stronger tracks show that this is a band to keep tabs on. 7/10

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