Dopethrone – Broke Sabbath
Dopethrone – Broke Sabbath
Totem Cat Records
Release Date: 24/05/2024
Running Time: 38:41
Review by Gaz Bates
9/10
It is a foggy and grim morning on the mountain where I live. I’m walking to get the bus to work as part of my commute, and deciding what my soundtrack for the morning should be. Now, I know Dopethrone’s ‘Hochelaga’ (2015) was an album of the year for me back then, so I thought their new album, the brilliantly named ‘Broke Sabbath’ would be perfect. I was expecting heavy, fuzzed out Sludge-Doom (Slutch as they call it, a Canadian term for cold sludge or dirty mud snow)… I did not expect this. It is abrasive, it is violent, It is Dopethrone.
Let’s start with the artwork, made by the band, a pile of ‘Slutch’. Fake blood and other sordid bits with their name carved into it, because why not? If a picture could sound like an album then this would be it.
Now, before I talk about the music, I listened to this a few times as I was making notes and before I start gushing about how great this album is, I would have liked the vocals to be a little louder in the mix. That being said, let’s get to it!
The opening track ‘Life Kills You’ is a relentless assault. I noticeably started walking faster when this song came on, the momentum is driving. Tracks like ‘Truckstop Warlock’, ‘ABAC’ and ‘Shlaghammer’ are in your face, nasty and ugly in all the best ways, the latter been driven by a fierce sounding bass, and is as big of a song you will ever get, you get a slight reprieve to breach the wall of fuzz and catch your breath before they drag you back down, like a denizen of the deep and suffocate you with their own brand of filth. ‘Rock Slock’ (The longest song on the album at 8 minutes) has some great work from Shane on the drums, unrelenting and punishing, and the guitar work in this song is my favourite of the whole album – it has a hint of rock ‘n’ roll in the lead lines. Starting off with a quote from ‘Dixie’ Dave Collins (Weedeater), ‘Uniworse’ has more of that guitar work and for me, is the best track on this album. Closing us out we have ‘Sultans Of Sin’, and still Dopethrone does not relent, not even for a moment, not until the very end where there is a tongue in cheek quote, showing that underneath the grime and misery there is a sense of humour to all this.
Dopethrone had a DIY attitude for this album, making videos with no budget (one of which was removed immediately from YouTube), giving their music away on Bandcamp, not having any music on Spotify, this band is in it for the love of the music.
In a world where people are excited for a new Motley Crue album, this is the perfect ‘Fuck You’. It’s not pretty, it’s not polished, it’s a sludgey sabbathian monster, it is not stalking you from the shadows, it is coming at you head on.
So, what are you waiting for? Get to their bandcamp page and get some more Dopethrone in your life.
P.S
Fuck Motley Crue.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Life Kills You
02. Truckstop Warlock
03. ABAC
04. Shlaghammer
05. Rock Slock
06. Uniworse
07. Sultans of Sins
LINE-UP:
Vince – Guitar & Vocals
Vyk – Bass
Shane – Drums
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Gaz Bates and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
