Nevermind the seeming monopoly that John Pettibone has on vocals for metal and hardcore bands in the Seattle area. The band, dubbed iamthethorn, that began as a project between he and friend Aaron "Edge" Connell (former member of Himsa, Genuine, Harkonen, The Horde, Grievous, Hellephant, Christ, Autumn, Grip Inc, and probably countless others) lays down its debut EP You are the Lamb via Goodfellow Records.
You are the Lamb is a noisy, doom and hardcore inspired salvo of five crushing songs. The low-end density of the music on this record is absolutely disgusting. To simply call this heavy is ridiculous. From the opening squeals of "Becoming Death," the song comes off real slow and deliberate. The vocals work well and create a sound with the music that is almost soul crushing; it also reminds me a bit of what Cathedral did on Forest of Equilibrium, but with real coarse vocals, much less melody, and way more of a beefy sound. "As the Night Rises" sounds like a straight up rock and roll song being played at 33RPMs instead of the proper 45.
For iamthethorn, the tempo change is very dramatic and sound strange following the lumbering sound of "Becoming Death." It is definitely the weakest spot on the album. With "Cutman", iamthethorn starts showcasing some different sounds out of the guitars. The tempo is a tad bit quicker than "Becoming Death" and the mood is somehow more desperate feeling, but it definitely sounds as though it is cut from the same cloth. There is noticeably more dynamic use as well. The band speeds things up again on "The Hunt and Beyond." There is more semblance of a groove while still maintaining the mood that "Becoming Death" and "Cutman" purvey. Ending the EP with the aptly named "Crawling Over Them", iamthethorn gets a few more digs in with this speed challenged dirge.
You are the Lamb is a good stab at creating a crushing record. The sound is good and with the possible exception of "As the Night Rises", iamthethorn carve out a decent start. It would be interesting to see what these guys do with a full-length.
