Self Released 2011
1.Face The Future Now 2.Grinding To A Halt 3.Green Army
4.Strenght, Honour & Pride 5.Hiding Emotions
Hardcore, sludge and doom metal might at first seem a
strange combination, but Lockersludge have managed to combine all three in
this, their second studio recording. Opener ‘Face The Future Now’ leans more
toward the Hardcore end of the bands sounds, although the other influences are
there, the sludgy, groove orientated guitar riffing preventing the song from
being an all-out Hardcore anthem. Vocally, it’s probably as you would expect,
strained, shouted vocals with ‘gang style’ shouted vocals used in choruses. ‘Grinding
To A Halt’ begins in similar fashion to the opener, the tempo pulled back to a
groove laden crawl, whilst remaining heavy with ‘ball busting’ attitude and at
2:19 it’s the shortest track from the five being offered up. ‘Green Army’ see’s
the band upping the tempo slightly, the ‘gang style’ shouted vocals again used,
but more frequently and they really bring the choruses to life, complementing
the more Hardcore/metal guitar work really well. There’s a real ‘fuck you’
attitude on display here, almost like the band are spoiling for a fight. As the
song slows slightly and a guitar solo is introduced, the doomier side to the
band’s sound rears its ugly head, but it doesn’t last very long however, which
is a bit of a shame as there isn’t too much of the bands doom influence on show
so far.
‘Strength, Honour & Pride’ is a fine example of how to blend
differing genres in one song, again mixing the more metal and Hardcore riffing
with some of the groovier sludge influenced sections, and to be honest, it
works really well. The production is a big factor in the success of the songs
as well, very heavy guitars with full on ‘in ya face’ drums that when combined,
pack a real punch. Final track ‘Hiding Emotions’ has an altogether different
sound, all due to the vocal delivery. A more guttural, almost death metal voice
introduced over some really catchy guitar work which is predominantly Hardcore
in its delivery…it works though and definitely gives the band a more sinister
undertone. Not all fans of extreme metal are going to enjoy this, but if you
are a fan of Hardcore, sludge or doom (or all three) then chances are you ‘ll
get into this very easily. Packed full of well played, catchy guitar work, a
vocal delivery which is as pissed off as you’re likely to hear, these boys
are definitely worth checking out. They appear to be doing everything righton this release,
let’s see how far it takes them eh?
7 out of 10
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