John, Lee, and Joshua have gone and dunnit Ribbonhead style again. The Chicago trio tickled our ear-feet this year with the 5 song release: I Must Have Peace and This is the Only Way. Ribbonhead opens with ‘GCC’ a gristle tearing ditty that we saw earlier in a DZ Records video:
Between the outright cacophony of retching screams, the amelodic guitar, and the freight train rhythm section, the album is a punch to the gut right from the beginning. You will move, Mark my words. From there the boys tirade into another: “Long Anagram”. A very compelling lead guitar riff opens the track and leads us to a tight rhythmic exercise of epic proportions. If you are in Japan – you will glance out the window to make sure that Godzilla isn’t destroying your city, because that is what it feels like at the end. After this epic subsides we find ourselves out of breath and about to belly up probably my favorite song title I’ve seen in a hot minute: “Gutfuck.”
To be entirely honest the title speaks for itself. It sits, it waits, then it roars. The second to last track “Waistband” picks up the pace and gets us moving again. A seemingly downward spiraling riff that opens every door and kicks you right through it to the next heavy morass of molasses thick thunder.
Fifth and finally, “Wet Sounds” wraps this sandwich up with a bow that is a crotch-sizzling nightmare. The contrast of vocalists really come through in this song—the highlight for me has to be the dual pitched up guitar solo break that ushers in the end of the song and the record…. or so you think.
I have now tried for 3 days to sum up this record in a short paragraph. I cannot. You just have to hear it and understand.
Go a head and smack the bull yourself by buying it on their bandcamp along with everything they own. Thank you bob bless you have a great day.