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Saturday, March 26, 2016

Beastmaker - Lusus Naturae


This is a new band hailing from Fresno, California that are carrying the torch of the Doom Metal genre in the essence of Witchfinder General, Black Sabbath, and Candlemass. They release their debut album on the Rise Above Records label this year entitled Lusus Naturae which translates to “A Freak of Nature.”

I love the art design of the album in which is done by Branca Studio in which it’s an homage to the great Horror films of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s in which it’s almost an homage to the Hammer films in the styles of the booklet. The band considers Trevor William Church on Guitar and Lead Vocals, John Michael Tucker on Bass, Andres Alejandro Saldate IV (Juan Bonham) on Drums.

Trevor wrote the 12 compositions on here. And the music itself is blaring, eruptive, and filled with intense riffs, stoner rock, and in your face to see what Beastmaker will think of next. This is a must have for Doom and Occult Rock fans and I love what is on here from right into the beginning and in the very end. The trio know what they are doing and they are pulling no punches with the homage to the ‘70s rock sounds.

Fierce and raw power comes into action with Eyes are Watching, The Strain, and Astral Corpse. Both of these tracks have the intensity and energetic force. And Trevor’s voice resembles a young Ozzy Osbourne and capturing the Sabbath and Doom genre torch and making sure it doesn’t burn out. I can hear almost as if they were recorded between 1970 and 1973 from the Paranoid, Master of Reality, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath sessions.

The trio really head into town as they work as a team. Loving those metallic bass lines that John Michael Tucker does. He carries the fuzztone levels through the riffs which is shown on You Must Sin and the homage to Electric Wizard with the Arachne. Trevor carries the rhythm and lead on here and both lending John and Andres a helping hand. Andres can take the drums from the styles of Bill Ward and Jan Lindh (Candlemass) to various sections. From mellow grooves to haunting/ominous directions on his kit.

The mid-galloping twist of Skin Crawler, sends me goosebumps and I can imagine the touches of Black Mountain’s In The Future-era in there. Trevor and John go into town between Guitar and Bass playing the melody together as if they were definitely writing scores for the Horror genre in the styles of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out.

This is my third time listening to Lusus Naturae. I was completely spellbound the moment I put the CD on. There’s going to be a few more good releases coming out this year and some competition to go with it. Beastmaker have landed on earth with a mighty punch to send the Doom Metal sounds with a vital force! This is a recommended band worth checking out. And I hope they will continue to see where the road will lead them into.

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