Horn Of The Rhino - Grengus review
| Band: | Horn Of The Rhino |
| Album: | Grengus |
| Style: | Doom metal, Sludge metal |
| Release date: | February 10, 2012 |
| Guest review by: | Boxcar Willy |
01. Under The Hoof
02. Pile Of Severed Heads
03. Grengus
04. Drowned In Gold
05. Waste For Ghouls
06. Awaken Horror Of Tuul
07. Brought Back
08. To Ride The Leviathan
Sludge is a genre that is really varied, it can take influences from 70's rock, like Baroness, or even black metal touches like Lurk, or Tort. One thing I have found is that there are not a lot of sludge death bands. Why not?
Because then there would be an overload of awesome.
Horn Of The Rhino (known as Rhino up until 2012, changed due to legal reasons) does exactly that, blends your trademark sludge with influences and techniques from good ol' death metal. You get blastbeats, pounding bass lines and riffs, the riffs man, the RIFFS! There are some guitar parts in here that made me blow my load, seriously for only being a trio, these guys can pump out the heavy.
The drum work, while being a little repetitive, is still slamming. It adds to the motif of "Yeah, were tough deal the fuck with it." You can get fast death metal drumming, or even classic rock 'n' roll drumming, it is generally really varied.
And hey guess what, it's Matt Pike on vocals! Err? wait, no it's not. Apparently it's Javier Gálvez, but I'm not buying that. I think its Matt Pike with a wig or something, or maybe his dad donated sperm. Either way he sounds almost like a hybrid of Matt and Crowbar vocalist Kirk Windstein, with a little bit of death metal thrown in. Javier's vocals follow along the lines of dying or dead, as if he's wailing from beyond the grave. (Spooky, I know.) Then on top of the howls, you get stoner-esque cleans, which brings together the entire vocal performance.
The guitars are even more fun, relentless, full-force riffs 24-7. There should be no substitutes for Horn Of The Rhino, no, there must be top notch riffing all the time. The guitars range from Cannibal Corpse style slam, to slower southern style riffs.
The overall sound comes together as an album which we have all heard bits and pieces from, whether it is the riffs or the drumming or the vocals. However adding all of these factors together has not been done (at least to my ears), and together, this shit sounds good.
Highlights- "Under The Hoof"
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Boxcar Willy | 25.05.2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 16
Visited by: 89 users
| InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2682  |
Great review "maybe your best  "gonna check this one out since it feels like something I'd enjoy
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157  |
Written by InnerSelf on 25.05.2012 at 03:00 Thanks, I'm trying to be more fair, and descriptive with my reviews  I think anybody who listens will like this album
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.05.2012 at 03:25 That's a bit of an exaggeration. Imagine pure Euro flower metal fans listening to this. (Not a dig at fans of the genre, just pointing out the difference in styles.)
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157 |
Also, 86/100 freckles.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.05.2012 at 03:35 -_- You aren't allowed to use this.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.05.2012 at 03:27 I recommend anything I like to anybody  "If you're a fan of heavy fucking music, you'll like this" Also, just did Biatch.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.05.2012 at 03:39 You don't even know the real meaning behind it... Not that it matters. This album's pretty good. And you did a pretty decent job describing it, although I don't remember there being such an emphasis on death metal.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.05.2012 at 03:42 Meh, I'll figure it out once it's not cool to say anymore. The DM influence is strong with this one, Under The Hoof is crazy heavy. Also, there's also lighter parts that sound just as fantastic. And thanks, I have an ABR review pending and a few mroe in the works, I want to get back into this again (not that i really stopped, I just... slowed down)
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.05.2012 at 03:42 there is only some very slight dm present nothing much at all, you are right.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.05.2012 at 03:44 Heavy does not automatically equate to DM. Yes UNder The Hoof is havey but almost no DM in there. The DM influence though present on the album is NOT strong in this one.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 25.05.2012 at 13:04 I dunno, I hear a lot of DM guitar work, and even drumming. As compared to your regualr sludge album, this thing is full of surprises, and is prbably my favourite 2012 album
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.05.2012 at 14:25 The only dm influence is in the tuning of some of the guitars on some of the songs but that's it. The riffing is still unmistakenly sludge. The drumming is mostly sludge as well.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9157 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 25.05.2012 at 14:30 Either way, this is a great album
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| R'Vannith ghedengi Elite Posts: 3099  |
Nice review, I think you are right about the sludge death combo, sounds obvious to me. Its clearly sludge but definitely has a strong death influence about it. The death elements are fitted to the sludge base, so the latter sounds more prevalent.
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266  |
Good shit and a candidate for my 2012 AOTY
---- rekt
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