Brutalism

No Hope from Germany are now in their 17th year as a band so its amazing to think they are only now getting a name for themselves in the Stoner / Sludge / Doom underground. The fact they have been around so long means they are now a finely tuned machine with precise playing, concise songwriting and a confidence which shines through especially on the recording of "Big Block Damnation". Produced, mixed and mastered by the band themselves, the production on this 4 tracker is excellent.

"Through Sad Eyes" kicks off the EP with a Doom laden riff, when the rest of the band chimes in, its a thick sludge groove all capped off with gritty, growling vocals but not in the Black Metal sense, its pure swampy Sludge Metal style in the vein of Crowbar, Weedeater etc. The main riff is made of tormented, twisting guitar runs that have a Classic Rock vibe just as much as a Sludge Metal one. Very Sabbathian in its intent and of course bone-shaking heavy, the guitar is thick and warm without going too overboard on the distortion. "No Difference" is darker and certainly more "Doom" than the opening track, the Crowbar influence is strong in this one especially in the vocal department. The middle section is total old-school Doom Metal with a crying, moaning sorrowful riff. It manages to hold the tension for the whole 9 minutes, slowly grinding its way to a dramatic, aggressive conclusion. The third track "M-Lady" you might have heard on a DMA Sampler a while back and its the shortest track on the EP but also one of the doomiest tunes on the EP. Once again its very much in the vein of "Crowbar" but by no means a rip-off, it has a thicker than mollasses riff line and a vocal performance that purely comes from the gut. "Aglophobia" is the final track on the EP which crawls out of the speakers with a heavy reverb / echo on the snare and feed-backing guitar touches before another mournful, down-tuned monolithic riff is produced. A very intense exercise in Epic, Sludge Metal, its a pain filled journey throughout the entire 8 minutes that puts a stranglehold on your head and doesn't let go.

What the band lacks is originality but this EP makes up for that but delivering a back to back solid Sludge / Doom Metal release with awesome playing, incredible whiskey drenched vocals and a solid production to crack walls. At under 30 minutes, its all over too quickly so the desire for "No Hope" to release a full-length album soon is right there already. There is not much to criticize about this EP, if you love the downtrodden slow grooves of "Crowbar", you will be blown away by this. A excellent release from a band that should be on everyone's playlist. Highly recommend this EP from "No Hope".