Drug Cult’s self-titled debut is pretty fucking ‘doomy’. ‘The Wall’ thunders and shakes as if it’s a belligerent and visceral orchestra conducted by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The song’s thick, deep and fuzzy rhythm changes are charted by guitarist Vin Steele and bassist Maggie Schreiber, with drummer Dale Walker dutifully punctuating each descent with a tight drum fill. All the while vocalist Aasha Tozer floods the song with a druid-like chant that rises to a disconcerting caterwaul. It’s as though she’s exercising an ancient evil from her body.
The album’s penultimate track ‘Acid Eye’ is probably the closest thing to a mid-tempo rock track and, potentially, the title is a reference to the substance that inspired Black Sabbath to tune right down to a low E on Masters Of Reality and Vol. 4. Those albums are widely regarded as the building blocks of the sound that bands like Electric Wizard, YOB and Sun O))) would develop into doom metal.
And this is a very good doom metal album.
7.5
