Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust (2011)

Electric Wizard led me to Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, and I do admit I consider the latter to be an evolution on the other's sound, making it a fraction more mainstream and adventurous in the process since they bring in a lot of other 70s influences to the Sabbath style, namely the Beatles. If you heavily fuzzed out the Beatles, gave them cool horror lyrics and an edge, this might be the result, Uncle Acid is like the nexus between Hammer Horror, distortion-drenched pop rock and the Rise Above roster. They have never let me down on a single album, and though they've recently moved on to a more theatrical, progressive leanings, I still listen across all their catalogue fairly evenly, with the possible exception of the debut, which was decent but crushed by Blood Lust in almost every category.

From the opening notes of "I'll Cut You Down", the sophomore is just brighter and more creatively conceived, with a nice pomp to the bass tone, and a rhythm guitar that constantly evokes nostalgia and atmosphere no matter how primitive some of its trudging riff structures. K.R. Starrs' striking vocals give you an Ozzy vibe without really channeling the Prince of Darkness, or perhaps they live up to the band's moniker by sounding like a psychedelic drug trip giving a voice. The feedback and distortion used on these and the guitars are excellent, it gives you that washed out, raw feeling not unlike Electric Wizard, especially their records around this same period, but the difference is in the songwriting, these never feel like garden variety evil doom songs, the menace is "Death's Door" or "Curse in the Trees" is how they groove along like a dude in a pair of bell-bottoms kicking perceived scorpions around his feet. The bass playing is simple, but I like how it curves up to those fuzzy guitars, and the drum kit here sounds pretty awesome too, though like their peers, it never needs to be too technical or flashy...

Just lots of fills and crashing, and in fact they're interesting in psyche pieces like the proggier "I'm Here to Kill You" that they'd probably sound great even without the other instruments. But all combined, this band is a total force to be reckoned with, and Blood Lust is compelling throughout its 43 minute length, from the catchy chorus of the opener to the belligerent flow of "Ritual Knife", the glorious voo-doom of "Withered Hand of Evil", or the almost 70s pure 'eavy metal' charging of the main riff in "Over & Over Again". The one exception for me is the acoustic finale "Down to the Fire", it's nice to turn off the amps perhaps and does eventually seem like it's going somewhere, primarily because Starrs' voice works well with the louder acoustic guitars, but it feels half-formed to me and just doesn't add much to what is already a bananas great freaking record. I could live without that, but otherwise Blood Lust is one of the best albums in an obscenely consistent catalogue. Nothing complex, just let it hypnotize you until you resemble the woman on the cover.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.uncleacidband.com/