Jumbo’s Killcrane – The Slow Decay – Review

jumboskillcrane200Jumbo’s Killcrane

The Slow Decay (Crucial Blast)
by Craig Regala

Much like the Southern-sludge-doom-scum-murder-rock of Eyehategod, Seven Foot Spleen, or Buzzoven, cracked and chiseled through the sarcophagus-holding riffs and changes too miserable for King Crimson to launch and too smart to destroy. This is what many of us thought Rollins Band was gonna turn into after Hot Animal Machine. Well, “us” certainly welcome “this,” even if Jumbo’s Killcrane didn’t have the decency to knock this one out when they were in, oh, sixth grade. Dense, powerful, and fully-formed, they churn the downer rock thing into an aggressive physical blurt that references the best of non-sissy punk as well as various metal, post-grind languages. I emphasize the music part: Not merely loud production, but placement of notes, chords, tempo shifts, and breaks, because it’s the stuff that makes it work. Like, say, The Laughing Hyena’s did a generation ago. Check the third song’s power trudge tension-release drumming: It opens up enough room (without telegraphing it) and sets up the rest of the song’s power. Absolutely beautiful sleeve indicates the gnarled windswept darkness inside.
(www.crucialblast.net)