UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS (Blood Lust) LP/CD
Unfortunately I didn't found many infos about UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS on the Rise Above promo for their album 'Blood Lust'. So I’ll have to let their music speak for them. Guess that’s already the way an album review has to be done, so let’s give it a shot. A droning organ gives us a brief introduction, before the band slumps into a guitar-driven beat so 70s style, that you immediately think you’re skimming through your dad’s dusty record collection from better days. You think ORCHID or GRAVEYARD sound retro? Then you’ve got to listen to UNCLE ACID and his fellow sluggards!
Their sound has this charming, not-so-well-produced quality that you only know from recordings back from the late 60s and early 70s. The guitar is a bit too raspy, the bass a bit too thin, but damn, this just perfects the atmosphere created by the songs, which we like and love from our heroes from the past. The high-pitched vocals have this laid-back lethargic feel and are floating above the melodious guitar work, drenched knee-deep in fuzz and blues, while the relentless mid-tempo drumming just stomps on and on.
Song titles like 'I’m Here To Kill You', 'Ritual Knife' or 'Withered Hand Of Evil are giving obvious hints on their lyrical themes, which circle around satanism and occult stuff in general. I have to admit their music creates more hippiesque images with fields of blooming flowers blurred by an LSD-induced daze, because they sound somehow colourful. If you’re afraid that these guys are just ripping of Black Sabbath like many retro bands do nowadays, I can assure you that the slow 'Curse In The Trees' is the only real Sabbath reminiscence I could spot and that we don’t have another Tony-Iommi-wannabe here on guitar.
Maybe the slowly grooving album closer 'Withered Hand Of Evil' would fit into that category as well, if it wasn’t carried by a string arrangement into the last minutes of the album, which consist of a well-done acoustic number complete with percussion and flute and sounds from the woods. This album will not compete to be the heaviest record of the last years or the Sabbath rip-off that we’ve all been waiting for. Instead, UNCLE ACID get the job well done to create an enjoyable doomy amd gloomy atmosphere which harkens back to the time when rock music started to become heavy, both musically and lyrically. And that’s a truly enjoyable journey for almost 50 minutes. So say your prayers, get in and take a ride.
(Steve Albino)