In the same way that grunge was associated with Washington, blues with New Orleans and thrash with the SF bay area, Savannah has become the hub of a new strain of sludge. Bands like Kylesa and Baroness come to mind with the Savannah sludge scene, but Black Tusk don't burden themselves with the psychadelia or florid guitarwork of the former two. It's plain old dirty sludge metal but more on the hardcore punk side of things, having more in common with Motörhead than Neurosis, which is totally fine.
Sludge is a loosely-defined genre as it can encompass caveman-like riffing and vocals as well as more cerebral post-metal elements. Black Tusk’s approach on Pillars of Ash is refreshingly direct, going straight for a Neanderthal clubbing to the head with bludgeoning riffs, d-beats and dual barking vocals. Sounds a bit like Entombed’s Wolverine Blues on paper, doesn’t it? It does, except Wolverine Blues lets you get up and dust yourself off before it knocks your teeth out again. Pillars of Ash just relentlessly pummels away with sludgy riffs and it’s overall less effective, like a movie that’s pure action with no breaks it reminds us of the numbing effect of diminishing returns.
When your music relies on simple riffing and drumming you have to ensure the following for success: the riffs are headbangingly catchy, the drums are infectious, the bass is interesting and the vocals make you want to sing/bark/shout along. This was the formula good punk bands followed and Pillars of Ash doesn’t quite cut it. The riffs are acceptable, the drums and bass are functional and the vocals are a tad underpowered leaving the whole package a moderately pleasing yet ultimately forgettable experience. The production is a bit muffled, making the album rumble forward and burying the melody deep in the fuzz, leaving us with 35 mins of samey, bland songs.
It’s a shame because Black Tusk have the chops to do something as genre-defining as the classic Melvins records but they’ve missed the mark on this one. I came here to headbang to killer sludgy riffs and I’ve only been inspired to half-heartedly nod along.
