FROGSKIN (Frog Versus Bear Sessions, Demo 2005) MCD-R
When I put the demo in the player and listened to the impressive opener 'Devotions Drain' I was like "not bad at all"; heavy downtuned sludge with huge Grief-ish riffs, played in slow pace and quite a sinister throat. The second tune 'Necklace Of Snakes' follows the same patterns, although a slight Electric Wizard influence is shining through. The third and last song is the final prove, that this Finnish band is definitely fascinated from the UK doom band, because it's a nice cover-version from 'We Hate You'. On one hand it's well-played stuff here, which can be enjoyed without smoking tons of grass, but on the other one FROGSKIN are bound too much to the same patterns.
Once again, I have the impression, that this guys are more focused on a brutal guitar-sound and a fucked-up vibe, instead of writing strong songs. We have the year 2006, and sludge isn't an underground genre anymore, like it was at the beginning of the 90's. So, if FROGSKIN are working harder on an own profile, they could maybe reach the class of Finnish sludge monsters Fleshpress, for example. This demo is a nice start, especially the production is fat and filthy, but they're walking on the edge of sounding faceless.
(KK)