Review
Seven Sisters Of Sleep
Self Titled

Have you ever heard the expression, “where were you when…” relating to certain events in history, or have you heard people say, “I remember where I was when Kennedy was assassinated” or “I remember where I was when the space shuttle Challenger exploded?” Well, not that it is anywhere near as historically significant (at least for the United States), I will always vividly remember the first time that I saw the videos for several of the songs that would go on to be part of the debut album from Seven Sisters Of Sleep; these videos and the accompanying music left a huge impression on me to the point where I feverishly awaited having the debut album from these miscreants (hey, that’s what the music makes me think of these guys as… I do not know why, so asking is pointless).

Thank god this record delivers on that anticipation that had built up for me; seriously, the wailing guitar squeals and brooding opening to the record clued me in that my faith in what this record would be was paid in full immediately. The vocals are some of the most tortured sounding bellows that I have heard in quite a long while and they fit the mid paced brute pummeling that the band lays down perfectly (listen to “Passed Out Standing” and tell me that it does not sound like a hardcore punk version of a sped up Cathedral song with just the right vocal style); the band is tight sounding on the dirty recording as well, making for a fuzzed out almost rock and roll joyride through a strange hardcore / metal/ almost doom wringer (a great combo in all honesty). The pace of the album is just about perfect as there is no let down during the almost 20 minutes of aural battering that by the time <i>Seven Sisters Of Sleep</i> lay down “CCEC” (mind meltingly good song and “Beirut” (easily my favorite track on this record, even though there are no stinkers at all), I am just about punching myself in the head while stomping my feet through my office as my blood feels like its boiling.

Seven Sisters Of Sleep offers what might be one of my favorite heavy records of the year already and that is laying some lofty praise on this new band; quite simply it is an awesome record that should be tracked down by anyone into crushing, heavy music.