ninehertz

We already knew, even in their short existence, that Black Shape were a little unhinged, creating music purely how it sounds right in their heads with little regard for common genre guidelines. And now arrives their new album Drinking, and it's their ethos perfected. As much as this may sound strange or jarring or uncommon, it is also impossible not to love it.

Perhaps the best way to describe their flummoxing appeal is to delve into some of the reminders tossing around my mind whilst listening, particularly when it comes to the vocals - initially I had flashbacks to long forgotten trend in the Britrock scene at the time nu-metal was starting up, and Kerrang was full of crossover music that never really did anything of note but was at least trying something. Its the vocals here, and how they aren't what you'd routinely think as a fit with the music. You can as such add in a nod to Sleaford Mods, even Goldie Lookin Chain. Then there are moments, such as on the title track, where I'm dreaming of a British pub karaoke version of Biohazard and Onyx's Judgment Night team up.

And as hinted, the music is not what you'd think - there are massive oppressive doom riffs littered across the album, from first to last track. That contrast makes for a unique listen. On Goblin of Sorrow, where the vocal stylings do actually concur with what you might normally consider appropriate, they go almost to Nails and death metal and darkest sludge realms; on Let the Scruffs Drown there are Black Cobra or maybe Torche nods. On the few tracks they play by type it's of such good quality the lost quirky uniqueness is no concern - The Fifth Horseman Whose Name is Nothing for example as good a hardcore and sludge combo as you find in the UK underground, akin to Corrupt Moral Altar to pick a random comparison.

It is a huge amount of fun, and the lyrics chip in too - the superbly titled Shapeshifting Lizards from Another Dimension's cry of "I love being thick, I'm proud of it" maybe the pick. By the album's end I'm that taken aback by its individuality and chirp that it takes me a minute to question - is this album actually brilliant? I have been that distracted, but as it fades into quiet I'm sad at its end, I need more, I need to see them live. Whatever it is they've birthed here is something I'm immediately fond of.

Yep, now having had time to take it in, I realise that this review may sound like I'm taking the piss, with old, forgotten and perhaps unflattering comparisons. And while I might be stretching the point way too far, I attach them lovingly, I swear. And mixed with those part harshest-hardcore part bullish-sludge riffs that are ubiquitous, it's strangely addictive. And who else sounds like this? No-one - and that alone warrants your attention. That and the riffs, I can't state enough how satisfying they are.