Saturday, July 7, 2012

Album Review: Primate - "Draw Back a Stump"

Rad metal bros Bill Kelliher (of Mastodon) and Kevin Sharp (of Brutal Truth) and other guys I don't care about decided to make a band called Primate. There's no need for any more intrduction.

     



Primate released the single "Pride" off of their new-old album Draw Back a Stump at the beginning of this month, and I thought it was pretty slammin'. So naturally as soon as I found out the whole album was streaming, I giggled and bounced like a little school girl.

Now when I say "new-old album" I mean that Draw Back a Stump was released last year, but Primate got signed to Relapse Records and they decided to remaster, remix and re-release it with a couple extra bonus tracks (which are not streaming).

Primate straddle the line of hardcore punk and grindcore. Y'know what that line is called? Fun. With riffmaster Bill Kelliher covering lead guitars, you get a solid array of punk-infused riffs and deep-fried-finger-lickin'-good-Southern licks. The riffs are a real step away from the Mastodon sound, being relatively simple compared to the  headfucky and mind bending riffs that they love to use. Vocals are fucking brutal as hell, cause Kevin Sharp is motherfucking Kevin Sharp. If you don't know what he sounds like, think a much deeper, much gruffer Lemmy. If you don't know who Lemmy is, I hope you get hit by a bus. Drums, handled by whats-his-face are great, pumping each song along, and reaching full on grind speeds later on in the album, especially on the classy song, "Get the Fuck off my Lawn".

Like I said earlier, the line between grindcore and hardcore punk is fun. Fun as Hell. Primate is a clear example of five dudes who wanted to take a break from their main bands, get really fucking wasted and churn out some songs to break stuff to. Production leaves things a little rough around the edges adding to the ferocity of the album, and the songs' short running times (every song is shorter than three minutes. Seriously.) Keep things fast paced and frantic.

The only gripe I have with this album is that its too short. I mean, I know hardcore punk and grindcore albums aren't known for their long running times, but the album closes up in under 20 minutes. That makes me a sad panda.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Global Division: Bill Kelliher proves that hes the real Dirty South Boss here. Riffs and lead guitar take top spot here.

Pride: Just read my goddamned review.

Reform: Ripping out of the gates, this song definitely is getting a shit ton of play time on my grind playlists. A great closer to the album.
On a Playlist With: Black Breath, Napalm Death, Toxic Holocaust

Overall Score

3.5

A great album from an unlikely collection of musicians. Like I've said before, Primate might be a just-for-fun side band, but it can really stand on it's own. This is the album you pound whiskey shots to with your metal brother and sisters.

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