Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats- Blood Lust (Rise above Records)

 I was very lucky to get one of the 350 of these pressed on purple vinyl (thanks Nils!) without a proper record sleeve and just a very simple thick two sided printed paper stuffed into a plastic bag with the record. Very simple, very rare and expensive now! Anyway, I have to say this is a pretty cool and low fi, garage, heavy rock record. The voice is a bit strange but you grow into it and the songs are pretty catchy and interesting. The opening track is called I’ll cut you down and it is pretty catchy with a simple repetitive guitar riff but it really grooves. Death’s Door is a long song and slows things down but has the same feel as the first track and it is pretty hypnotic like old Sabbath and also good melodic parts. The mid section has some lead guitar that pans back and forth (it is a stereo recording!). Over and Over Again reminds me of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath era Black Sabbath. This song sadly fades out way too early. Curse in the Trees is a slower more Doomy track but it also has a cool groove as well. Flip the record over and it starts off with I’m here to Kill You! It is a more uptempo track with a nice melodic guitar riff and a bit more distant vocal but still very low fi drums and not a lot of bass (on any of the tracks). The guitar break is great with synth and guitar solos over and under each other. 13 Candles has almost the same groove as the opening track to start but is a longer more developed track. Ritual Knife has a very cool tribal style drumming as the song slowly builds up some tension and mystery before the guitar break. Withered hand of Evil closes this debut record by this mysterious group (Uncle Acid- Guitar, vocals, synth, mellotron; Red- Drums and voodoo maracas; Kat-Bass). It is another slower track but just as cool as the rest and the only one to feature Mellotron. This is a record that really grows on you.

          I think it is a pity that this is such a low fi and thin sound as the band would be so much more powerful with a better sound production as they have some many great songs. Maybe the next one. Great record. Here is a link for a cool interview as well.

http://www.myspace.com/uncleacid