A plague a' both your houses! I am sped.'
-Mercutio
Romeo and Juliet – 1579
While I'm pretty sure UK sludgers Grimpen Mire haven't released an ode to Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet with their début album 'A Plague Upon Your Houses', the tone of their music reflects Mercutio's curse upon the houses of Capulet and Montague. Just down the road from the birthplace of doom, Birmingham, lies Wolverhampton. Aside from the funny accents, the city (like so many others in the Midlands) has a proud industrial past that was laid to waste in the 80's. Fertile grounds for some nasty sludge and doom to grow. The three-piece have been a regular on the UK gig circuit for a while now, touring with the likes of Black Breath, Serpent Venom, Undersmile and Conan.
'A Plague...' isn't an easy listen, but then this is sludge, it's never going to be an smooth ride. Having said that their nastiness doesn't come from crappy production, on the contrary, the production is excellent. The tracks, recalling the post-industrial urban decay of their home town, Wolverhampton, drip with caustic grime. I won't do a track by track analysis, but this is solid sludge with hints of traditional doom. By and large it is very much 'by the book', offering little in the way of innovation, but it is delivered so well such crimes are forgiven.
If I was to offer criticism, it would be that I wasn't totally sold by the vocal delivery. Proficient as Van Linden's roars are, I didn't feel the rage- they felt a little too controlled. Overall very good, just not excellent. I know it's a cliché, but you get the feeling if the band pushed themselves and took it to the next level they could produce something really special...7/10.
The album is currently available to download for five English pounds via their band camp page, but will be released on CD via At War With False Noise later on in the year.
Bandcamp
At War With False Noise
Written by Matt Wright.
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