ALBUM REVIEW: Crackhouse - "Be No One, Be Nothing"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full length

Date Released: 06/10/2017

Label: Argonauta Records

The music the performers put forth is like a flare flung out on a dark street, either as a vain hope for rescue or to light up one's march to an abyss. No doubt you will leave the strangling blackness created over three songs and 50 minutes from the darkly titled "Be No One, Be Nothing" with just that feeling.

“Be No One, Be Nothing” CD//DD track listing

1. Burden

2. Harva

3. Realm

The Review:

Every once in awhile, there are metal releases that are especially mesmerizing. The music the performers put forth is like a flare flung out on a dark street, either as a vain hope for rescue or to light up one's march to an abyss. No doubt you will leave the strangling blackness created over three songs and 50 minutes from the darkly titled "Be No One, Be Nothing" with just that feeling.

The debut full length by Tours, France's Crackhouse follows its two-song EP released in February. There, you got a taste of the trio's simply violating ethos. Crushing guitars of sludge, ingredients that bake prog-rock, heavy blues and stoner metal in the cake. You get the picture. Think Dopethrone through a flaming lawn mower. Good stuff.

And so here we are. Don't let the name – I know, I know… they're trap houses, not crack houses, these days – deter you from taking in the savagery before you. What stands out most on Crackhouse's three cuts is the aesthetic. How else can you describe songs that feel exactly right -- not too long, not bloated, but rather tell a compelling story in the time they need? "Burden" begins slowly, a formula that feels all too familiar, before drenching you in an expansive wall of guitar, bass and drums, with effects flitting in on occasion. With experienced regional artists Simon Morlec, Jean-Baptiste Carton and Guillaume Vailant making up the group, you are quickly introduced through this first track to Crackhouse's intelligent arrangements and intriguing songwriting. The vocals veer from the typical sludge blueprint – instead there are well-done echoes and emoting that is not the growling you know well, and it works. A song this big, 18-plus minutes, makes some tempo changes as the story progresses. The bass lines sway throughout, steadying what can at points be swinging emotions within the opener.

The closing track matches its opening partner and just over 22 minutes. "Realm" has a copacetic space rock build that succeeds by not relying on classic metal tropes that sometimes creep in during these styles of introductions. Into that third minute, Crackhouse churns a gratifying post-rock pace that feels original. Drums pick up, however, and the band matches them with harder guitars and faster bass. The trio does not let up from the first one-third of the music until the end; the music is intense and vocals are tenacious.

One of the biggest difficulties for stoner and doom bands that attempt massive compositions is not sounding derivative or overlong. Middle track "Harva" strikes a blistering balance with its impressive guitars and songwriting, while upholding the style Crackhouse generated attention for. Although it could be said its open and close could be tighter, the band's complete debut "Be No One, Be Nothing" frankly would not be as excellent. Crackhouse creates an oppressive release certain to remind you why it is a name to be watched for in metal into future recordings.

"Be No One, Be Nothing" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook