Fossils

Flesh Hammer

Written by: PP on 16/02/2014 23:53:58

There aren't too many all-instrumental bands in Denmark, but Fossils is one of them. On their debut album "Flesh Hammer", they deliver a VERY bass-heavy instrumental rock/metal album that draws from the likes of Pelican, Russian Circles, CKY, and Kyuss, which means you can expect plenty of down-tuned, tight grooves out of the unit throughout the album. That is, aside from punishing distortion and a barrage of guitar riffs that basically makes the entire soundscape sound like we're dealing with a triple bass-assault instead of a more standard setup.

The whole album is a little rough on the production side. The rumbling bass/guitar mix could certainly use a lot more clarity in the mix as opposed to the slightly muddy mixing that's dominating the album right now. A more pressing concern is whether the instruments can pull enough in the absence of vocals, and in that area, it certainly feels like Fossils have a lot to improve on. Every now and then they have a catchy tapped riff like on "Pelvis Crust", for instance, but as a whole, the all-instrumental songwriting isn't enough on the record to keep your interest. That is worrying, because the album is only 20 minutes in length across 10 tracks. In general, to drop vocals entirely from your soundscape is risky business that only few bands have managed to a sufficient degree of success, here I am thinking specifically of Pelican, And So I Watch You From Afar, Don Caballero, and Russian Circles in particular. But here, Fossils do it for such a short period of time that you'd expect that not to matter. However, having "Flesh Hammer" on repeat for days now I am still struggling to find much else to write about the album except to mention that it is extremely bass heavy throughout. That, if nothing else, is a sign that Fossils need to be able to write better riffs in order to be recognized when there is no vocalist to bail them out with what I would expect to be High On Fire style roars on an album like this one.

Download: Spamtastic, Pelvis Crust
For the fans of: CKY, Kyuss, Pelican, Russian Circles
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.03.2014
Indisciplinarian Records

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