Over several very under the radar releases (EPs, splits, half lengths, etc.), the dynamic duo that makes up Bubonic Bear unleash Fleshworld on a mostly unsuspecting audience that (despite lots of touring and tons of shows) still have yet to experience the crushing doom-y noise-y sludge that has become this group’s trademark for audience destruction (I always thought of the Bear as a more punk Cavity, which is an amazing to think about really); and maybe I just never paid close enough attention to the nuances of the studio aspect of Bubonic Bear because with Fleshworld, this duo seemingly has matured a great a deal with their song and studio craft.
At times Fleshworld seems a bit noisier or maybe more droning than on previous efforts (“Young Professionals” takes a much slower and measured approach that allows the guitar some droning moments than other songs on the album, while the awesome “Occult Farmers” is such a noisy, slow burn that it is criminal), and at other times, furious tracks like “Parade In Sweat” show that the band has not lost its ability to thrash wildly with reckless abandon; the album certainly finds Bubonic Bear stretching out into new creative ground with “West To Broad” as the song continues the band’s exploration of slower tempos while augmenting that with a hypnotic repetition and weird chanted vocals (as opposed to the usual sound vocal sound of broken and haggard screams) that just push the song to a whole other level.
Fleshworld definitely is a huge step for Bubonic Bear in terms of both recording quality and creativity by having not only the most crisp recording that they have used to date, but also this duo certainly pushed their creative powers into new and exciting directions without losing a whit of their crushing power that they seemingly wield with little to no effort; my one complaint (however small it may be) is that the Bear still has not quite figured out how to translate the gut kicking bottom end that simply destroys people in their live incarnation (if and when they do that, forget it, this band will be unstoppable) because this record is so good in every other way.
