Black Tusk - Set The Dial review
| Band: | Black Tusk |
| Album: | Set The Dial |
| Style: | Punk, Hardcore, Sludge metal |
| Release date: | October 25, 2011 |
| A review by: | Doc G. |
01. Brewing The Storm
02. Bring Me Darkness
03. Ender Of All
04. Mass Devotion
05. Carved In Stone
06. Set The Dial To Your Doom
07. Resistor
08. This Time Is Divine
09. Growing Horns
10. Crossroads And Thunder
Here comes Black Tusk! They're groovy, sludgy, heavy, and catchy! Aaaaaaaaaand...
Not all that exciting.
All the ingredients to make stoner/sludge metal are there, exactly where you'd expect to find them. Set The Dial may just be exciting if you've never really listened to anything in the sludge and/or stoner subgenre before, for everyone else, it's unbelievably textbook. Those abrasive quasi-harsh vocals rolling along with the thundering fuzz-toned, bottom-end heavy riffs. It's all there, in fact, it's really hard to make any complaints seem all that legitimate. After banging your head out to bands like Bison B.C., Kylesa, Hail! Hornet, and High On Fire, Black Tusk just seem a bit uninspired. In fact, if I was asked to describe Black Tusk in 3 words, the only appropriate response would be "second-rate Bison*."
It is what it is, though. Hearing this through less seasoned ears might actually be a treat. It's an embodiment of everything sludge/stoner;
Set The Dial is not a terrible album by any means. It just seems like Black Tusk may just be one of the first in a generation of assembly-line sludge bands. It had to happen some time.
*Bison can be switched out for any number of bands in this case.
Comments
Comments: 15
Visited by: 231 users
| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15303  |
I kinda liked this one, found it slightly better than "Taste The Sin" after a couple listens... so my rating would be maybe half a point higher. it is what it is. while their Georgian counterparts are all off doing something more exploratory, they are content with a Ramones-like formula, only without the Ramones benefit of being the innovators of that formula. it's good stuff in the same way burgers and fries are.
---- 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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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
"It's like that friend who steals all your best jokes, then consistently fucks up every punch line." Exactly my thoughts. In fact pretty much this entire review reflects my opinion, the rating included.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439  |
It's like that friend who steals all your best jokes, then consistently fucks up every punch line. Oh man I fucking hate that guy......
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Only listened to it once (couple of days ago in fact), and I completely agree. Shame, because I like the artwork so much and wanted to buy a T-shirt...
---- loves 小巫
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| Spirit Molecule spirit molecule Posts: 1918  |
Hmmm I liked their stuff, its pretty decent, not the best band out there, but they have their moments. I will still check this one out. @AG yeah cover art by John D again. He's done all their cover art. I actually found these guys coz of him 
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| Boxcar Willy REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Posts: 9216  |
Bison ftw 
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| Lokaeda Account deleted |
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9723  |
Written by [user id=109376] on 16.11.2011 at 15:17 Doesn't automatically make them better.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Lokaeda Account deleted |
Lokaeda
Account deleted Written by Doc G. on 17.11.2011 at 01:31 I didn't say such a thing  (though I actually think Black Tusk is better  ).
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| Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena Posts: 7654  |
Well, it not gonna be a big deal out of this if I say this band is actually underrated in MS. I mean look at this....its still fucking invisible. I am not a pro listener of Sludge Metal, but I've covered it their many albums which too far for me till now is fucking good. On an average rating is like umm 8( which is not bad) and is having a great goodwill in the Metal music. We should promote this band to more rather tripping and listening to mainstream bands.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 20.11.2011 at 16:34 There are better bands than this to promote to be honest.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena Posts: 7654 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 20.11.2011 at 22:50 I know... but this band aint that bad too!
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| Spirit Molecule spirit molecule Posts: 1918 |
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 20.11.2011 at 16:34 tsk tsk my child, leave it to the pros
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| Susan Smeghead Elite Posts: 6941  |
Nice review Doc, although I'm going to guess that it wouldn't even be a treat for "less seasoned ears." Just a guess but last year I really discovered/got into sludge and their album Taste The Sin was painfully boring. Even though I was new, I barely got through a handful of listens, opting usually to listen to Bison instead (or any of the great 2010 releases). I clicked on this Set The Dial review hoping you'd say that they'd improved since last year but alas... I think I'll pass on this one
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589  |
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