Uglyhead: The Garden

Think doom and you think big riffs, sludgy guitars and booming drums. Think industrial and angular metallic edges thrust at you. However think doom and industrial Uglyhead style, and a sudden shift into electro visions of sliding themes, harsh cinematic scope and nervy bursts of guitar, clash headlong into programmed beats and slicing high-hats, synthesized whines, hums and bulges. Add to that deep in the mix vocals and a harsh, yet tailored sound and the results are doom infested and industrially vicious, but in a more individual style than a mere copyist.

That's not to say that The Garden is a completely original piece of work, with the likes of Nine Inch Nails being brought to mind. However this is an album much less concerned with song structure and conventional constraints, with no such concessions to the likes of choruses, or solo sections. Instead things flow more like a challengingly electro soundtrack, with samples, violin and "noise" almost regaling you with a conceptual story of, The Garden.

Dense arrangements make much of this album a barrage of sinister themes deliriously happy to disorientate and baffle as they careen out of the speakers at you. That's not to mean that The Garden isn't packed with subtleties and nuance, but they are wrapped in spiky, razor sharp packages willing to gleefully pierce your skin as you attempt to grasp on to them. Although once you have a firm grip, the pain becomes extremely worthwhile.

An album that needs to be listened to from start to finish for you to truly interact with it, what Ugluhead have cooked up here is an uncompromising collection of sounds and attacks that grow in strength as you let them sink in. Invest the time and the delicious discomfort will find you crawling back for more....

Supposedly there is also a 2 disc special edition of The Garden which comes inside a hand stained wooden box, with a patch, 2 pin-badges, a full colour booklet, with (and I quote the press release) "pressed flowers, animal bones, peat moss, and some other surprises". Oh and a disc of instrumental tracks. Make of that what you will....

Track Listing
1. The Path
2. Through The Gates
3. Between The Leaves
4. Empty City
5. Lichen
6. Nerium
7. Drosera
8. Kudzu
9. Burgeon
10. Blight

Added: November 24th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Uglyhead Music Online
Hits: 2463
Language: english

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