Somewhere - where I have no idea - the idea that traditional stoner-rock could get a huge kick in the ass by adding some of the successful elements of "hardcore" popped into some tattooed (probably grizzly) peoples' heads. I imagine the plethora of people who own the Hydra Head catalog also have a few Eyehategod and Sleep records, and vice versa. Ding! We don't need eight-minute songs with three riffs, so let's cut out some of the shit out and throw in a couple weird noise parts. These are my first thoughts as I listen to Electric Horsemen's debut, self-titled EP.
I certainly wouldn't categorize this under sludge because it has a lot more straight-up metallic leanings and too much crunch. The songs are slow but aren't afraid to get brisk, which is great because I can only tolerate so much Sunn-with-drums crap. But when Electric Horsemen do break down into their slow material, it incites the same visceral reaction as a regular-old breakdown for a Hatebreed fan. I'm sure there's head banging in copious amounts at their shows.
The vocals are also pretty atypical for the genre, as well. Just for the sake of comparison I would place them closely to Zao, but I wouldn't be turned off immediately if Zao's not your cup of tea. There's also some more traditional stoner-rock singing, although it is used more as punctuation in songs rather than the meat of the record. The production on the recording is decent and not distracting but there are some higher-register parts that I want to hear searing over the bass-heavy drag of the rest of the song, but it's just placed in the middle of the mix. Not poorly executed, but something that could work well in their favor.
All in all, if you like stoner-rock or whatever and you're reading Scene Point Blank, this is probably up your alley. So check it out.
