Megasus- Megasus
7/10

Megasus’ debut album of crushing power metal may catch some curious Lightning Bolt fans by surprise. The sheer heaviness of the screeching, hard-hitting guitar-squalling album is far from drummer Brian Gibson’s usual noise attack he delivers with Lightning Bolt as their bassist. Here Gibson employs a character-filled haphazard drumming style to strip convention from the genre, adding an urgent anticipation to the sound. Megasus first came to life in an extremely limited vinyl release last January on Wild Power, and has now been released on CD worldwide via 20 Buck Spin. Using super low, de-tuned guitar and bass with fuzzy effects, the band creates an unusually sludgy and droney doom metal sound. All working for Guitar Hero and Rock Band Playstation 2 videogame design company Harmonix, the Providence, Rhode Island-based quartet behind Megasus had their songs ‘Megasus’ and ‘Red Lottery’ feature in the hugely popular video games before their album came out. Vocalist Jason “King” Kendall (Amazing Royal Crowns, Deterrents)’s rasping, melodic voice can often sound distant compared to the driving rhythm section, but despite the remoteness it remains powerful and integral. Gibson, whose name features prominently on the album cover sticker and in the album’s press, is not spotlighted simply due to his other band affiliations; at the forefront of Megasus’ sound is his relentless drumming, together with Paul Lyons (Scared Stiffs)’ heavy, throbbing bass and the menacingly low sound of Ryan Lesser (Laurels)’s guitar. The driving rhythms propel the songs, with echo and delay effects used sparingly to modern results, such as in their skin-ripping namesake. The band inherits Kyuss’s stoner noodling in the quiet intro to ‘Swords’ before building up to a tumbling metal ode. Elsewhere they derive Slayer’s stereotypical spiralling guitar squalls in a subtle manner (’Hexes/Szaadek’), all with trademark aggressive overdrive to give their sound a melodic unison. Megasus is neither conventional or contrived metal – building up to the sublimely brutal final track ‘Iron Mountain’, whose seamless introduction demands repeated listens.
Sarah

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews