The name says it all. When you listen to BLUDGEON, prepare to be... bludgeoned. But for this listener, what I was getting bludgeoned by is repetitive songs with monotone vocals, and zero sense of passion or urgency. This album was produced by Joey DeMaio of the notoriously over-the-top Manowar. My biggest complaint about this album is how derivative of Pantera it is: production-wise, drumming, vocal delivery. “Bitter Emptiness” sounds like a hybrid of “5 Minutes Alone” and “Rise” by those metal legends, only here, the speed never lasts for very long.
When the band does pick up the pace, it shows promise such as halfway through “Carnage Begins” and “Infidel” which opens with blastbeasts, but the whole thing is slowed down by the vocals, which can’t seem to keep up the pace with the music most of the time. “Refuse the Truth” apes Phil Anselmo’s vocal style the most with an attempt at tough guy posturing in the line “You’re the one that fuckin betrayed, motherfucker”, half-talked and half-shouted the same way Anselmo told all of us “No way, punk” and “Walk on home, boy” back in the Vulgar Display-era of Pantera. There are also a few breakdowns throughout the album on “Consumed” and the closing track, which may tickle your fancy if you haven’t already heard the tons of metalcore bands that use this technique. This band can benefit from picking up the speed more often instead of meandering at mid-tempo most of the time, and having a vocalist that had some conviction in his screaming instead of a formulaic delivery.
