Confederacy of Ruined Lives

After hitting the furthest extremes of pain, anguish, and caustic loathing with low tuning, headbanging "punch your face" riffs, blown-out production, excess feedback, and a disposition that would make roadkill look pleasant by comparison, what else was Eyehategod to do? They'd already made some of the meanest sludge with the best riffs that they could ever possibly produce. They turned feedback into a weapon in their war against all and made some of the filthiest music imaginable. What more could they have done in 2000? Especially considering that these guys were brilliant and bruising, but never multifaceted, evolutionary or dead-set on wowing people. What they did was come out with Confederacy of Ruined Lives which is more or less another album of gnarly metallic rage with some good slow, bluesy, groovy riffs with a coating of excess grime as Eyehategod have always done.

If you've heard Dopesick or Take as Needed for Pain there isn't much different here. Some differences can be noted such as there being a less bass-y sound, some groovier riff attempts, and the aura of dirt and disease that followed Eyehategod around isn't quite as overwhelming. This has the same southern-fried hostility that makes this band great and it's what everyone has come to know and fear. And there are some interesting additions to note within the track listing. Plunging dirt-caked riffs with a bluesy stumble and punkish grit are nothing if not common in the Confederacy of Ruined Lives. They burn their fuel the hottest on "Jack Ass in the Will of God", "The Concussion Machine Program" and "99 Miles of Bad Road". They capture a lot of the same headbanging force and noisy clatter as heard on previous albums. They also decide to do some work outside of the box with some songs that deviate slightly from the norm like ".001%" which is just manipulation of feedback for the first half of the song and an explosive, ominous, slow, massive blare for the remaining half. Aside from these tracks I mentioned, things do tend to feel somewhat simplified and not as nerve-fryingly angry as on earlier albums with the groovier guitar approach not having as many snaking bends or sharp points to it as before. It's still satisfactory and loaded with soiled spite, but after you come back from Dopesick you're going to expect more out of the successor to an album like that.

Confederacy still does do a lot right. It still hits you in the face with all that it's got even if the sound has lost a few pounds. The guitars aren't just groovy or bluesy. The tone of these guitars has a way of twisting around itself and making this feel salivatingly vile and ill. Mike still sounds pissed off and like he's ready to spray bile over everyone. What makes Eyehategod strong and whatever makes them who they are is fundamentally unchanged. The only weakness being is that this album isn't quite as over-the-top hateful or intense as its predecessors.

Confederacy of Ruined Lives is a good album, but it does show some signs of simplification and isn't anything new if you've already heard their previous stuff. There’re worthwhile songs on here that add both insult and injury to whoever's eardrums are around. The only rules that Eyehategod are intent on following are the rules to play loud and get nasty. They do what's familiar to them, and we get another round of punching sludge. No need to make them change at all.

Well, after a short-lived period of twelve years of existence, Eyehategod (still love that name, one of the most original band names I've ever seen) put up yet another oozing, disgusting piece of sludgy, doomy, yes almost a slowed down grindcore version of extreme music. While their debut was horrible because of the incredibly annoying feedback, their later works were all quite exciting, well exciting may be a wrong expression for it, so let's call it good. After reducing the feedback to a more atmospheric type of noise, which is endurable in their sophomore (gotta love that word) effort and of course later works, such as "Confederacy of Ruined Lives".

Really, how much more negative can you get? The musical outlet of this band is filled with glass-clear-negativity. Everything sounds as destroyed and fucked up, as it is awe-inspiring and groovy. The music is clearly based on life experience and by the sound of it, I'm not sure I want to know what all sorts of shit these boys have been through. The overall atmosphere here is, compared to their earlier works, a lot lighter and easier to digest. In other words, it sounds a little bit more like metal/sludge and less like punk/noise. The foundation of this album is not some random irritating cluster of permutated feedback chunks, but rather the sort of slow, repetitive and tearing riffs that we all know and love.

The dirty tune conveyed by each and every song here can be put to words by imagining the swampy southern parts of the US, or some kind of run-down slimy city full of neurotic and sick people. Eyehategod clearly aimed at capturing the incredible decadence of our time and by processing it into heavy music and stuffing it into a firm 40 minutes and 20 seconds, they have made a truly immortal album that thrives on the very disgust it's supposed to express. Right after the opener "Revelation/Revolution" one can immediately recognise the oncoming descendo, like a great big downward spiral or a drain. The riffs make it seem as if the music was struggling to go on and Michael's vocals play a great role in adding to the overall distortion with his half aggressive half beat-down voice. This is one of the most imposing rasps there are out there. If you thought Ozzy was a tormented bastard, you just have to listen to this guy and you will instantly change your mind. The groovy slow bass parts coexist perfectly with any short "solo" part if you want and embrace each other to further enhance the degeneration process. Take for example the fifth track "The Concussion Machine Process" with it's groovy start, chugging progression and down-the-drain end and afterwards the begin of "Inferior And Full Of Anxiety", which picks up right after the former left off, only to get more confusing and creepy. If you're looking for some really fucked up shit, then this is the album for you.

If you look at it from a musical perspective, the songs are actually very broken down meaning they sound incoherent, but that's exactly the purpose of their existence. The music is supposed to be as confused as it is depressing. It's a straight to the face confrontation with the most fucked up parts of reality. This is yet another example of what you can make out of music, simply without musical perfection in any way, but through atmosphere. Eyehategod are comparable with Venom in some of these aspects, yet differ very much on terms of speed and energy. This is one for you anguished lost souls out there, don't miss it.

The purveyors of almighty fine sludge have released this official follow-up to 1996’s "Dopesick" after several years of fooling around. And remember, that’s EYEHATEGOD I am talking about, so if you didn’t like them before, you sure as hell won’t like them now. These guys derive their energy from total disdain and loathing of any existing authority, moral values and social order, with their music being the direct expression of that. And what better way to vent your never-ending stream of hate than through virulently nihilistic lyrics, delirious vocal lashings, piercing guitar feedback (check out ".0001%" half of which consists of squealing guitar static), and fatter-than-a-sumo-wrestler, Southern fried, swamp-soaked, bloated and filthy blues-doom riffs. And as such, it is a bit surprising that Century Media kept them on their roster for nearly a decade.

Keeping all that in mind, I would be more surprised if the band actually tried to do something different on this album, which they did not. In fact, this album harks back to the days of "Take As Needed For Pain" with renewed power and energy. Over the years, I have come to expect the band to deliver exactly what their name implies, nothing more, but also nothing less. Otherwise, I would just think that they are going soft precisely because this music is not what they do, it is what they are, and that pretty much sums it up. You either revel in this bitter, noxious river of negativity or you wimp out and swim for the shore of easy listening respite. The choice is obvious.

Nothing has changed over the years. Eyehategod made this cd and it was still as good as the first cd was. Their unique way of making music has not been succesfully done by anyone else. There are bands that are alike (such as Grief who about started sludge together with Eyehategod) but Eyehategod are the rulers of sludge metal. And they will be forever.

The cd starts with one of my favorite Eyehategod songs of all time. "Revelation/Revolution". Mike's vocals are great as ever and drip pain and suffering from his lips and vocal coards. Just like the previous CDs, the sound of the band in total is slow, hard and deep. Its hard to discribe the kind of vibe the music gives. But once you listen to it. You will know what I mean.
Once in a while the songs have faster parts to throw in some nice variation. This makes sure the music isn't boring. Even though I doubt it would ever be boring.

The guitars play slow, and with slow I mean that with some songs they almost seem like the guitars a funeral band has. The riffs are slow but not easy to play. Anyone that is planning to cover this band had better had a good sense of rythem. Their Black Sabbath like riffs are like porno to the ears. Making anyone who loves decent doom metal drool and weep in awe. The effects between the songs of the distortion are great in this kind of music. The Melvins started this but now it has gone to this band as well as others.

The drums suit the music perfectly. They slam down when the guitar riffs make their groovy riffs end and then it starts over again, and again and again. It goes on for songs and songs. Giving that groovy feeling more power and more groove.

In total this cd is a cd EVEYONE that loves metal MUST have. This band is musically perfect in every way. They know what they do and how to do it.

Highlight: Revelation/Revolution