Sloth Hammer are an experimental sludge/doom band from the UK. This is their second album.
No guitars, two vocalists, two electronicists, (is that a word?), two drummers, and plenty of bass, Sloth Hammer bring the pain on their second album across a colossal and punishing 78 minutes, recorded live and improvised.
Before descending into the bowels of Slothworld you should prepare yourself for all manner of criminally insane noises, sounds, and harsh experiences. Doom, sludge, noise, drone, grind, and a variety of other sounds coat this work like a filthy patina of grim extremity, and the band channel this into music that tortures and inflicts misery with the casual ease of the unhinged.
I must say, given the experimental nature of the music, it’s rather good at what it does. I’m somewhat partial to this sort of underground, free-form, bass-dominated sludge, especially when it’s enhanced with noise and electronics as it is here, but Sloth Hammer do seem to have a talent for their work.
This is a long album that frequently veers off on unexpected tangents, while also descending into repetitive, droning, hypnotically entrancing episodes, all of which is punctuated with violence and anxiety. If you have the stomach for The Sloth, then Superbia Ira Acedia is a great place to get to know their ugly, twisted world.
The promo blurb mentions bands such as Primitive Man, Author and Punisher, Fistula, Jucifer, Bismuth, Witchsorrow, and Owlcrusher that the band have shared stages with, and as a general rule if you’re a fan of the darker, filthier, harsher side of these bands, then Sloth Hammer could be for you. I’ll also throw in some references to bands such as Khanate, Goatsblood, and Charger, for good measure.
A punishing album, but enjoyable and rewarding for fans of harsh sludgy extremity. Highly recommended for underground connoisseurs.
Wonderbox Metal 