haarp – The Filth
Release Date: 2010Nov23 (US)
Label: Housecore Records
Rating: 3.5/5
The NOLA-based haarp has released a debut with all kinds of momentum behind it: the creepy cover art is by renowned artist Paul Booth, the album was mastered at Visceral Sounds by Scott Hull (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), and produced by Phil Anselmo through his own Housecore Records. With all of these factors working for them, it’s no surprise that The Filth turned out as unconventional as they come.
Though bookended by tracks (with alternating names) that clock in just over the four-minute mark and broken up by a brief instrumental in “Minutia”, these songs mostly run in the 7-8 minute area, and have every intention of pummeling you into dust. You don’t need an inner masochist to enjoy haarp, but it helps.
They rarely stray from their dripping syrupy lurch, with all the musical meanderings and lyrical exorcisms of Starkweather, except without the pretty parts. It takes a band like this to make me appreciate sparing use of the word “brutal”, so when applied to a group as deserving as haarp, the adjective actually has weight. They could use a bit more variety, as even the most dedicated to doom may nod off in the second half. But this is just the start of a dark new wave of sludge from The Big (un)Easy that this Yank thinks will stick more than the Great Molasses Flood.
FCC: 5, 7, 8
Try: 2, 3, 5
01. The Rise, The Fall
02. All, Alone
03. A New Reign
04. The Blue Chamber Painted Red
05. Peerless
06. Minutia (instrumental)
07. Here In The Dark
08. Plurimus Humilus, Ciacco
09. The Fall, The Rise
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