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Review Summary: Don't fear the Ripper. An album with two tracks that round 20 minute each is meant to be imposing, challenging, and basically like a rite of passage for those looking for a state of mind beyond the ephemeral nature of media consuming in the modern age. It’s almost insulting the way we devour arts today, we skip through the stream with blinding rush, chasing the promise of the next big thing instead of savoring what is actually happening right here, right now.
Well, the thing is you can’t skip *** in Terminal, there is no way around it. Bongripper’s sixth album is as massive as any of its predecessors but, in a way, it does feel more welcoming. The steep hour long of previous statements like Satan Worshipping Doom, which the band still plays live in its integrity, or Hippie Killer have been fat-cut to 40 minutes in which Bongripper, not only delivers a masterful lesson on heaviness, but they also show a surprising progress in finding balance and restraint in their craftsmanship. “Slow” opens up with ominous synths and guitar feedback in preparation for the storm of sound that is about to happen. It only takes one minute for the first assault to hit, and it feels wonderfully heavy. Endure ten more minutes and you will find yourself floating in a post rock ocean of reverberant guitars and crawling tempos, feeling blessed and rewarded but slowly being pulled to the next hammering session before spewing an orgasmic ambient passage of guitar ecstasy. The second half, rightfully named “Death” is, on the other hand, pure mechanical evil. The drums crush and pave the way in a dynamic that showcases how unified and compact is the sound of Bongripper. It takes a few minutes to enter in the sludge trance of this colossal tune, but once on the other side of the threshold, you can’t help to feel a creeping craving for more and more thunder.
Terminal feels like a gravitational punch in the head but it also sounds really clear and polished thanks to the production job by the band’s guitarist, Dennis Pleckham, who mixed, mastered and cooked himself the whole thing at his Comatose Studios in Illinois. The sixth album of this instrumental four piece from Chicago sits high on the throne with other weed-fuelled heavyweights this year like Sleep’s The Sciences, finding equilibrium like an enlightened acolyte of the ponderous arts in one of their most accessible yet brilliant releases up to date.
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Sputnik feels slow on reviews of new releases these days so trying to get things moving a bit.
The album is an absolute beast. Listen, support here: https://bongripper.bandcamp.com/album/terminal
Feedback always appreciated!
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Ooh, Dewi's on a review roll. Pos! Wasn't gonna check this but might now
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Thanks man, be sure to do it on headphones, crank it up and take it all in with wisdom.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Great review, this is a strong album. I'm surprised they kept it at 40 minutes only, but, yeah, it's a lot easier to dig into.
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i think these dudes are gonna be at migration fest in a few weeks. p u m p e d f o r d o o m
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Appreciate it Raul, it is definitely more accessible but they haven't softened at all. The damn thing has been pulling me in the whole day, like a brain massage.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
You mother fucker I was gonna do this review haha. Excellent writeup and I agree 100%. I know Satan Worshiping Doom is their "classic" but I've always preferred Hate Ashbury and this is creeping up into that realm for me.
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wasn't able to give it a listen yet. but their previous albums deliver heavy as fuck doom metal and so do their live shows.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Dewi for Staff 2018
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Oooops sorry Guydude! Would love to read your thoughts on it though!
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goddamn potheads
POSripper
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
TBH I don't smoke at all, I just looooove ultra-heavy stoner doom. Headphones cranked, lying in bed, throw this or something similar on and I can just space out even sober.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
@Dewinged - I don't want them to soften, this is their appeal. They should be as brutal as possible
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Great record the second half is a monster
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, headphones def required. Good call
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"TBH I don't smoke at all, I just looooove ultra-heavy stoner doom."
I quit smoking 10 years ago but I did miss it listening to this lol
@Bloon Thanks dude. I know I called you out to review this on the "Satan..." thread but at night I felt it coming. You jammed it already?
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You work super well with shorter, more to-the-point sentences, like the first of your second paragraph (which is a great sentence, and a great paragraph, might I add); some of the longer ones, however, like the second sentence of the same para, feel a bit long-winded to me -- which: understandable, given how difficult it is to balance various different ideas at once within a single sentence, but that's a good reason to break them down, I think. Sorry for the vague criticism, other than some small expression things this is a good, very good, great review. You're my inspiration -- always so damn good at evoking images while getting your point across at the same time.
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Thanks so much for this feedback Blush! I also felt I was getting caught in some long lines myself. I'll try to rearrange those long lines in a different doc and if I get it smth decent I'll make an update!
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One of the best in the stoner/doom genre
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
agreed
savage tones live
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