I can actually trace the roots of this Toronto band back to The Womb—literally, as that was the name of their former band. What started out as pure Pantera worship evolved into perhaps the most technically proficient sludge/noise-rock outfit around these parts, putting out a pair of pretty solid records in the late aughts. And now half of The Womb makes up two-thirds of Ayahuasca, so there ya go. This is actually their second album, coming nearly three years after their debut, over which time they’ve made a couple lineup changes and adopted less-than-3v0l stage names. But I gotta say, their roots are still showing.
Album-opener “The Dodged Now” borders on Wintery funeral doom, before “Born into a Sadness Machine” picks up the pace with a jagged, blackened thrashy riff complete with some breakneck breakdowns and soaring group vocals. It’s eclectic, but it really, really works. The title track is equal parts math rock and space rock, which should appeal to fans of Devin Townsend.
“Dark Matter God” recalls the angular, sludgy math riffs of The Womb, as does “Dinosaurs.” And yes, there is a song named “Dinosaurs,” and it is awesome. I kinda wanna go dust off my Womb CDs now—I’ve missed these grooves, dude!
