Barren Womb hail from Norway and Finland.  ‘Lizard Lounge’ is their fourth studio effort and is arguably their best however I’ll admit here this is my first foray into the world of Barren Womb so I can’t comment on whether it’s their best.  They’ve actually been around for almost a decade so the duo of Timo Silvola and Tony Gonzahl certainly aren’t wet around the ears and have plenty of time served to create their chosen craft.

Without any preconceptions, I turn the speakers up to “Neighbour Bothering” Levels and ‘Cemetery Slopestyle’ greets me with a feral rapid kick in the shins and a swift audio headbutt. A steady beat and feral guitar riff with dog snarling vocals but it never appears to be untethered this beast is being ridden to the end. I like it!

There’s a hint of ‘Bleach’ Nirvana about ‘Karma As A Tour Manager’ sparse yet claustrophobic if you know what I mean?  It’s an impressive mixture of HArdcore attitude mixed with an air of doing it on the hoof and a shade of commerciality or catchy parts that might be fleeting but prevalent enough that you notice them.  ‘Hairy Palms’ breaks down into some doomy heavy shit but like I say its fleeting before we’re back off on that big commercial riff.

‘Smoke Lets Go’ is one of my favourite tracks its a steady pounder with a dirty loose riff as the vocals bark their words but there’s handclaps which leads me to think these cats are winking at each other and like a long line of Northern European bands playing their punk rock with a cheeky grin and if the chorus was meant to be pop it is but it isn’t.  What it definitely is though is quality in a sea of quality songs.

It’s no shock that the duo are influenced by the Melvins because they’re crazy as well but that’s the melting pot the Womb are cooking part Grunge heavyweights part QOTSA chart lust part Hardcore part bat shit crazy.  One thing they do is keep it short and sweet with the exception of one track almost hitting the giddy heights of five minutes ‘Nerve Salad’ reminds me in part of Rage Against The Machine.  Signing off ‘You Do The Meth’ is a writhing beast and a fine way to sign off a rather good record.  I’m off to investigate their back catalogue because if its as good as this then I’m in for a treat.  check them out!

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Author: Dom Daley