Album: Herb Your Enthusiasm
Year: 2016
Rating: 91/100
Maybe it's just my love of puns, or just that I recognise a good riff when I hear one, but there was something that just clicked instantly with me when I hit play on "Herb Your Enthusiasm", the debut effort from Wigan riffmasters Boss Keloid. With Chris Fielding (Electric Wizard, Conan, Napalm Death) at the production reins and the excellent James Plotkin (Khanate, Atomsmasher), the early signs are certainly promising.
Opening number "Lung Mountain" is a hard hitting, enthusiastic (yep, that's going to pop up a lot here in this review) number which is big on clattering drums, fuzzed up riffs and the unique and superb vocals of front man Alex Hurst. Conan's Jon Davis even pops up to contribute guest vocals on "Lung Mountain" and "Chabal", two of the strongest numbers on the album. The wordplay in the titles is there in abundance as well; short but sweet instrumental number "Highatus" and the wonderful, sprawling "Escapegoat", complete with its customary buzzsaw riffs and lots of slick, deft time signature changes that seem determined to challenge the listener without the need to unnecessarily blast the listener into submission.
The most impressive thing about "Herb Your Enthusiasm", however, is the level of consistently high quality that Boss Keloid attain with every track. It's fresh, it's exciting, it throws up something different with every listen that you may not have picked up on before. If this is how Boss Keloid plan to start, then I can't wait to see where they'll go next.
Track List
- Lung Mountain
- Haarlem Struggle
- Escapegoat
- Cone
- Axis Of Green
- Highatus
- Lung Valley
- Elegant Odyssey
- Chabal
- Hot Priest
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