Album Review: Eyehategod - Eyehategod

Eyehategod are not a pretty band. And they don't play pretty metal. The quintet are the aural equivalent of taking a trip into a filthy basement where junkies lie prostrate, needles hanging out of gangrenous veins – a place where all hope has fled and society's failures are laid bare with no exculpatory filter in sight. If Eyehategod are happy about releasing their first new full-length album in 14 years, this material doesn't show it.

From the demented feedback that opens the frantic and lysergic opener Agitation! Propaganda through to the turgid crawl of Flags And Cities Bound, Eyehategod let their frustrations and disgust at the state of humanity fly forth with reckless abandon. The band's southern roots also remain intact with echoes of Lynyrd Skynyrd found on tracks such as Worthless Rescue. Other standouts include the cinder block heaviness of Robitussin And Rejection, Quitter's Offensive's manic stomp and the hypnotic, drunken grooves of The Age Of Boot Camp. If the riffs aren't enough for you the demented howls of frontman Mike Williams seals the deal by bringing an added urgency to material that already threatens to spiral out of control.

There are few bands today that can truly be called dangerous – even so called 'extreme music' conforms to formulas that have become staid and uninspiring. With this album, Eyehategod retain a welcome unpredictability. This is music on the edge made by people on the edge.