Iron Tusk
“III – Dream Eaters”
Transistor 66 Record Co.
Released : April 20, 2020
From the heart of Alberta’s Siksika Nation, comes Iron Tusk. Who are about to drop their third EP.
“Dream Eaters” has a real pulsating vibe to it. An old school metal edge. But also a snarling early punk attitude too. There’s just something about it that wants your head to nod along. Good bass guitar driven grooves.
This two track EP will soon be available as a digital download as well as a cassette tape. As was the case with their two previous releases. I’ll be honest here – I don’t get the cassette trend. I grew up with tapes, and hated the shit out of them even then.
They always get messed up. The sound deteriorates with each listen. And I have a vivid memory of getting detention in high school because of a cassette tape. Fucking thing. To save batteries in our walkman’s, we would stick the tape on a pencil and whip it around to rewind it. Well, lets just say on this day, the tape flew off the damn pencil. Pelting some poor bastard in the head in the middle of math class. Yeah, I really derailed my thought process here.
So anyway. Moving along. I really dig what Iron Tusk are doing here. There’s a real clash of musical genres, but it works. Fuzzy guitars and frenzied drums with an almost soothing yet aggressive vocal. Picture a Stoner Rock band that hasn’t quite smoked enough weed yet to be so high that they’ve slowed everything to a crawl.
See also : Kvelertak “Splid” Review
The first of the tape’s two tracks, “Cloudeater” – to me, is the better of the two. It has a sleazy hard rock riff to kick it off, and works its way into a good driving beat. By the time the vocals kick in, I really feel like I’m listening to a lost Dead Boys track. And let me tell you, I flippin’ love the Dead Boys. There’s something about the way the voice is delivered that just feels right. It gets a little bit repetitive, but I wouldn’t call that a fault here.
“Dreaming City” begins with a nice desperate sounding vocal energy. Something I haven’t heard in a long time. Its like a throwback 80s era hardcore, without actually sounding anything like a hardcore band. If that makes any sense. And the way it slows down late in the song, and the vocals become more screamed. More angry. Yeah, I dig that.
I’d like to hear what these lads would come up with on a full length album. Because two tracks isn’t enough. As soon as you really start to get into it. Nope. That’s the end of it. No more. Hit play again.
For fans of : No More Moments, Danzig, Dead Boys
Track listing :
01. Cloudeater
02. Dreaming City
