HAARP

Bets are now being taken on what a NOLA band on Phil Anselmo's Housecore Records label sounds like. If you had EYEHATEGOD anywhere in your answer, then go ahead and consider yourself a winner. It's close enough. The point is that on "The Filth"HAARP takes the idea of one abrasive riff, one chugging beat, and one pissed off vocalist and pretty well runs it into the ground.

Slow down there, son; that's nothing on the level of a capital murder indictment. It is however an acknowledgement that while "The Filth" has its moments and a tremendous amount of anguished attitude, it is in the end a very average representation of southern sludge. Part of the problem is that "The Filth" too often sounds forced, rather than the metallic manifestation of one's purging of the effects of numerous badly dealt life cards. It is one of those "you know it when you hear it, but you can't quite explain it kind of things" and it is just not coming through with any sense of urgency here. That is take to nothing away from the gigantic, well enunciated roar of vocalist Shaun Emmons who spits out tortured sermons like the end of days are in fact due to arrive the following week. The "lyrical concepts" of Emmons, Keith Sierra, Jr., and Meghan Flewellyn are well written and darkly poetic too.

Musically, all of the songs are better than tolerable and each weighs more than a ton, but only a few are noteworthy to any extent. For example "The Blue Chamber Painted Red" is convincing even before a well-chosen increase in tempo takes the song home. The churning riff of "Peerless" is a dandy and the solos that cut across it are full of somber feelings and harsh reality. As for the artwork, Paul Booth delivers, much as one would expect. But in the final analysis, there are too many better sludge choices that could be made before settling on "The Filth".