The Georgian Skull: Mother Armageddon, Healing Apocalypse

There's nothing more frustrating than an album that shows flashes of brilliance, but ultimately fails in total to convince, which is exactly where this debut album from Canadian doom metal, power blues band The Georgian Skull lands, with moments of jaw dropping groove laden brutality being joined by some extremely ordinary songs.

Having seemingly lost the rest of the skeleton The Georgian Skull are the new name taken on by Mister Bones, who released two full length albums alongside a live disc between 2002 and 2006, before putting out the EP Smell The Strap (a kind offer, but I think I'll decline) as The Georgian Skull. Coming on like Down, or Pantera meets Clutch with much doom thrown in, Mother Armageddon, Healing Apocalypse is a full on smack of stoner with more groove. When it works the wallop is enough to leave you winded with "Becoming The Machines" somehow welding massive riffs with subtle grooves, by way of howling screams and clever little guitar lines. Even reading that back, it doesn't make sense, but it is a startlingly infectious disease and as the blisters swell, so does the desire to go deeper into the fever infused madness. The likes of bouncingly groovy "Hunting The Ghost" keeps up the hallucinations frothing, with a wah-wah pedal dragging you deep into a clash of dirty, dirty guitars and bright solos that are all surrounded by a mammoth beat and bass line.

Unfortunately as the album goes on, a cure is found for this infuriatingly insistent mayhem, with the altogether more ordinary "The Funeral", or "Doom Lord Pusher" just being run of mill doom. While the thoroughly needless "Intermission" hopelessly lives down to its name, with some strange noises reverberating around for nearly six minutes in a way that fails to become atmospheric, or build tension. Actually it is the sort of thing that stops people from buying album these days, because they "only need the good songs". Then add the torpor of closing song "Smoking Your Exorcism" to the mix and I have to ask, why would you make two of the longest song on the album so uneventful??

The bottom line is that when Mother Armageddon, Healing Apocalypse is good, it's bloody stunning, but when it isn't bloody stunning, it's not very good.

Track Listing
1. Final Days Of Doom
2. Demon Cripper
3. Hearts Burning
4. Becoming Machines
5. The Funeral
6. Intermission
7. Hunting The Ghosts
8. Possed Obsessed
9. Doom Lord Pusher
10. Where The Demon Dwell
11. Smoking Your Exorcism

Added: January 15th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Georgian Skull MySpace
Hits: 2074
Language: english

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