Blutch — Fra Diavolo
The band has been around for quite a long time, this being their fourth album. What I remembered about them wasn’t very nice: good in the heavy and slow bits, but just plain ridiculous when trying to experiment and become a bit post-rock in approach. And the voice of the singer made me want to puke.
But it’s not 2001 anymore, it’s 2003 and things have changed. Blutch are now more confident on stage and don’t try as much to impress the “non-sludger” on calmer parts (well, when they do, it’s still crap). On Fra Diavolo, they stick to what they know they can do: crush like a ten-ton hammer with slow as fuck, heavy as fuck, mean as fuck music. However, there is still some pretty bad stuff on this album. Rest assured that the good parts have the upper hand though…
Introitus is a barrage of guitar, rocking like a mix between Jon Spencer and The Melvins. The second track, Chromatic thoughts, is really pure vintage dirty sludge, sounding like a more primitive Grief. I just love that kind of stuff… Minor problem: the voice reminds me of a weak mix of Ozzy and Wino (The Obssessed). Well, not that much singing so it’s ok. Broken breath explores the same path as the first track, only better. Bound is heavy Melvins, good but not as inspired as the original. Orchid stretches on 13 minutes, a kingdom for the slow, an harvest for feedbacks. Full of controlled anger. Painful. Into the pinball is quite good musically but the vocals are just so fucking hard to stomach: shut the fuck up, going instrumental would be a good choice. On Pedigree, there is a sort of nice interaction between a music box for children and the drums before both guitar and bass reclaim the power and covers you with dirt. But the best track is Requiem, the album closer. 10 minutes of guitar drone, multiple layers of vocals, a few cymbals sounds. Fra Diavolo’s masterpiece.
T’Joens, Pascal and Gin are good when they are loud and slow. They are not when they try to be original. This is probably not a revolutionary album, but any sludge fan will find plenty to rejoice here. I do.