Veteran southern sludge metal band Weedeater released their second album for Southern Lord (and fourth overall), Jason…the Dragon, earlier this month. For this ten track / thirty-five minute disc, the band once again recorded in analogue with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago.

On this new disc, the band continues with their slow, sludgy bass-heavy doom but pick up the tempo for some stoner rock grooves on "Mancoon”. “Dixie” Dave’s vocal chords sound shredded but his manic bark is an important and prominent part of each song. The feedback-laden riffs are thick and slow burning so this disc isn’t quite as heavy and southern-fried as God Luck and Good Speed (2007) but it should strike a positive chord with fans of Black Sabbath / Pentagram style bluesy doom metal.

Where the band breaks from their core stoner/doom rock sound is on:

- “The Great Unfurling” – which is a menacing spoken word piece backed by a church organ,

- “Pain and Opium” – which is a twangy acoustic number where “Dixie” Dave’s vocals are altered which leaves him sounding like a Southern-fried version of Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd ,

- “March of the Bipolar Bear” – which is simply a “classic-rock” style drum solo and

- “Whiskey Creek” – which starts with some “Deliverance” style banjo playing and goes into a “hidden” jazzy piano track.

“Turkey Warlock” is indicative of the core sound of the album (below) though the title track “Jason…the Dragon” is the stand-out track on the disc.



Links:
Weedeater