Weedeater – Jason... The Dragon

If there’s one thing Weedeater are, it’s reliable. Well, that and loud. Then again, so are dozens of other sludge bands, but they just don’t have what puts Weedeater up there with Eyehategod and the other kings of the genre – the ability to craft huge-sounding riffs that are felt not in the head but in the gut. What’s on offer here, therefore, won’t come as a big surprise to anyone who dug God Luck And Good Speed, but that’s never a bad thing.

After the sinister intro of The Unfurling, Jason...The Dragon kicks up a notch with Hammerhandle, a typically crushing ditty that even the most resolute of listeners couldn’t resist bobbing their skull to, while the title track offers a true highlight, a king-hell riff driven by "Dixie" Dave Collins’ groove-and-fuzz-a-plenty bass, only matched in intensity by his unhinged vocal contortions. There’s a mean Goatsnake impression on Long Gone, other than that this is prime, grade-A southern sludge. [David Bowes]