Tsar Bomba - Silent Queen - review
Tsar Bomba - Silent Queen - review
Tracklist
01. Jesus Fuckin' Christ02. Enter The Void
03. Flooded
04. Silent Queen
05. The Devil's Been Busy
06. Why Do You Live Here Yet?
07. Who Am I
08. Black Flag
A review by
Dane Train March 25, 2013
This is the sort of stoner metal I dig. It is so dirty that a trip through the car wash with the top down still won't get you clean. Silent Queen is not so much a ground and pound assault against your senses but more of a tie you behind the truck and drag you punishment. Low, slow and full of doom, this band understands that heavy doesn't necessarily mean fast and overly aggressive. Think of Tsar Bomba as a power drill through your head as apposed to a bullet.
Often the strength of this record comes not from the notes they play but the ones they don't. The space between notes is so vital to the powerful atmospheres here. This is a prime case of less is more. This is not to say that it is a quiet record, especially on the vocal end. From the start if the album to the end, it seems like there is almost no end to vocalist's gravelly baritone, which I personally enjoyed. If you are more of a riff enthusiast then you'll be happy to know that there are solid, catchy riffs all the way through. The riffs of "The Devil's Been Busy" is parasite that latches onto your brain and stays there all day as you descend into madness. Never riding the hi hat, the jazzy drumming drives this record forward in such a tasteful way that I wish more bands used this style. While most bands stick their bass player in the corner and have them keep time, here we have a instrument that not only leads several of the songs but really shines on it's own. Package all those elements together and you have 100 megatons of nuclear fall out.
If you like your metal in the vein of dirty southern American stoner, à la Corrosion Of Conformity or Down, give this a shot, especially considering this is a band from France...and I thought that French metal was only about giant space whales. Shows you what I know.
Written on 25.03.2013 by
Written on 25.03.2013 by
Dane hails from Asheville, NC which is Beer City, USA. When he is not drinking various craft and micro brews, Dane fronts the Stoner Doom Metal band, The Quick. He also has a massive collection of Hellboy comic books. Comments
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I prefer more ritualistic, mind-bending stoner metal a la Aarni, Om, and Yob. But the really heavy, gnarly side of the equation can be just as fun from another direction. I see you mentioned this album as a heads up for fans of Down, so I'll definitely be giving it a peek, thank you! As far as French stoner metal is concerned... check out Wheelfall if you haven't already, they sound a lot like Kyuss but with much harsher, "sludge-ier" vocals. *Also: clever Gojira reference 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Eager to check this out.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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