Fistula - "Loser" (2011) [PATAC Records]

Ohio is a pretty disgusting place, at least according to their music scene. Remember that extremely dirty blackened doom band VIT I reviewed back in October? Ohio. Unlistenably raw black metal band Drekavac? Ohio. Dofka (hehe)? Ohio. My point is, when you hear Fistula's (what a disgustingly awesome name) horrendously heavy and distorted sludge, "Cleveland" should immediately come to mind.

Bands like Fistula always get me going, because not only are they heavy as sin, but they're not afraid to have fun and be a little "tongue in cheek." The bowel-wrenchingly low-end first track "Picking Up Chicks" doesn't necessarily sound like you're picking up some fine piece of ass at a club, rather some blown out, cellulite-covered white trash motorcycle mama who happens to have your name, and plenty of others, tattooed on her ass. It is horrendous. It is foul. It's goddamn awesome. Not to mention that, though while this album crawls at a snail's pace for most of its 28 minutes, it explodes into bombastic, sloppy grind in quick, sharp bursts like, say, the second track "I'm Glad Nate's Not In A.C." or about 3/4 of the way through "Picking Up Chicks." Most sludge bands normally forego the whole "let's have a fast part...just because" mentality out of fear that oh gosh, what if our fan base can't handle the speed? Fuck that, Fistula obviously doesn't care about what their fan base expects, and that is awesome. Too many bands preoccupy themselves with what the fans want and not what they want, which is why Fistula's music, albeit offensive and humorous, is honest, fun music.

My one problem with this release concerns the guitars. Yes, the bass is absolutely fucking monstrous; the first time I listened to this I actually thought a neighbor was blasting dubstep and the sheer low-end was making my desk rumble, BUT the guitars don't really match this. Imagine what this would sound like if Fistula added an extra tablespoon of bass to the guitars...pretty damn heavy, right? If only, if only. I still really enjoy this, but every once in a while I'll catch the guitars and sigh, wondering what it could have been.

Oh yeah, "I'm Glad Nate's Not In A.C." reminds me: RIP Seth Putnam. Truly a fitting eulogy.

Be sure to 1) stream this EP over at BrooklynVegan and pick this bad boy up on vinyl at PATAC Records this September.

Doom on!

-Jon