EYEHATEGOD - Confederacy of Ruined Lives CD
After the veritable storm of festering ugliness kicked up by 1996's DOPESICK, the music on New Orleans sludge mongers Eyehategod's follow-up is surprisingly polished. Which is not to say that CONFEDERACY OF RUINED LIVES is anywhere near something ... Full Descriptionthat would be played on the radio. It's merely a step away from the harrowing ledge on which the band was standing previously. The production opens up some room for guitarist Jimmy Bowers to slip in some Southern-fried Skynyrd and Allman licks along with the swamp-thick heaviness, and gives the band enough space to establish some formidable grooves. Still, staggering heaps like "Inferior and Full of Anxiety" and the punishingly slow "Blood Money" come crusted with muck and singer Mike Williams's tortured growl. Most of the songs exceed the four-minute mark, giving all that pain and despair time to trickle down like thick black blood starting to draw flies.
