Boss Keloid - The Calming Influence Of Teeth
From the first few bars of album opener Winehorse it's clear that Boss Keloid have managed to raise their game since 2010's excellent Angular Beef Lesson.
Still maintaining their signature heavy-as-fuck groove, Boss Keloid have also added a complexity that was hinted at on their debut, with skewed riffing and time signatures that you'd struggle to tap your feet to should you feel so inclined. The aforementioned Winehorse includes more changes than a thing with lots of changes, Muscular Grin is a vicious, jerky little bastard, and Bellow Of Blackened Beasts is a bit more contemporary/mainstream, but still with Boss Keloid's unique flavour. Madam Palindrome manages to be almost catchy, while Skipper's Pipes uses repetition to great effect.
It's hard to pigeonhole Boss Keloid, yet their sound is uniquely their own. Noticeably more mathematic than its predecessor, part sludge and part knuckle-dragging groove it's almost obtuse enough to be a feat of endurance rather than a pleasure, but while it's at times a challenging listen it never becomes a chore. Calming... is an album than needs to be given your attention rather than half listened to while doing the ironing.
Once again Boss Keloid have released a huge, hairy-bollocked beast of an album. It's impressively cohesive and works perfectly when taken as a whole, and if I add only one, tiny piece of criticism it's that an album this relentlessly intense may have a little too much in the way of teeth and precious little calm.