ALBUM REVIEW: Drunk In Hell - "Drunk In Hell"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 12/10/2017

Label: Burning World Records

Drunk In Hell have delivered what is easily the most horrible release of 2017. Seven years of accrued filth and sludge has never sounded so good.

“Drunk In Hell” DD//LP track listing:

1). I’m An Arsehole

2). Sick Sick Sex

3). Bitch Boy

4). I’m Not Laughing

5). Born Sick

6). Chick Flick

7). Gag

8). Walking Abortion

The Review:

It seemed that Drunk In Hell’s debut album was destined to exist only in the realm of myth. Somehow after a gruelling seven year gestation period, the notorious Middlesbrough hellraisers have finally managed to drag this dirty beast into reality.

“I’m An Arsehole” sets out the blueprint for forty minutes of soul-crushing, feedback-soaked monotony. Each track is based around one (occasionally two if you’re really lucky) minimal, knuckle-dragging riffs that the band hammer to breaking point and beyond. Imagine Flipper’s“Generic” pumped up on steroids and ruined on cheap lager and you get a good idea of the kind of punishing dirge Drunk In Hellhave to offer. Bish’s belligerent vocals establish a threatening air of constant menace, decipherable enough to discern some of the grotty details of “Sick Sick Sex” and “Bitch Boy” but incoherent enough to leave the complete picture disturbingly vague.

“I’m Not Laughing” provides a twisted adrenaline rush before the second half of the LP sees the band increase the levels of drudgery with grossly compelling results. “Born Sick” is based on a lumbering doom riff that feels like the Melvin’s back catalogue distilled into one shot of pure evil while the ominous rumble of “Gag” heightens the mood of dread.

The eight minutes of “Walking Abortion” brings the album to a close in tense fashion. The track comes across like a weird, tooled-up version of Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control”, based on an unrelenting drum beat that drives a feeling of increasing desperation and futility reflected in the guitars and vocals. The spell is finally broken by a squalling cloud of feral saxophone that provides a suitably nasty finale.

Drunk In Hell have delivered what is easily the most horrible release of 2017. Seven years of accrued filth and sludge has never sounded so good.

“Drunk In Hell” is available here

Band info: facebook