Facemelter

Format(s):	LP, CD, Digital
Release Date:	October 2008 (CD), February 2009 (Vinyl)
Label(s):	Tor Johnson Records, Gatehouse Anchor
Pressing Info:	240 Translucent Red/Black 160 Smokey Clear 100 Green Marble (ND Exclusive)
Info:	Recorded and mixed by Phil Trudel in June/July 2006. Mastered by Nick Zampiello in January 2007. Artwork by Rick Stec. Design/Layout by Jarrod Delong and Adam Caires.

 

Reviews

First off, let’s discuss the artwork since that pretty much slams you in the face. There’s a demon-like skeleton head, skeletons of birds standing on a half-skeleton/rib cage coming out of severed and decaying hands. With eyes. Oh yeah, and spiny snakes. I know just by looking at it, that this is going to either be great or awful. Well, I wasn’t disappointed – it’s great stuff. Somewhere between stoner rock, hardcore, and ambient, Massachusetts’ Now Denial put out a great disc. Starting off with “Notes from Americatown” mixes stoner riffs and punk/hardcore vocals, melting (pun intended) into the punk-ish fury of “Days of Rage.” “Bloodfeast” might have been on a Motorhead record, it’s that punchy and riffy. A half-bluesy “Sleazy Livin'” comes next, with some interesting stops and meanderings through the song. Distorted/shouted vocals contrast the strange stop-go riffs. Tongue in cheek song titles like “Genius Einstein from Hell Meets the Wolfman on Steroids” and “We Follow the Night (On the Wings of Thunder)” keep this album interesting and punchy, crunchy and unique. Oddly enough, this album was recorded in 2006, but wasn’t released until 2008 from Tor Johnson Records. Nasty groovy and dirty, this is a good stoner/punk album from the Northeast. Rock on. [Dixon]
– The New Scheme

Interesting. This starts out with a really great stoner groove, but it fails to kick in with those heavy, sludgy guitars. Instead they go a totally different direction. This is more melodic and layered in that Gravity Records kind of way. At Times they break into this rockin’ style that I like to refer to as “cowpunk” because it has that rock n roll sleeze feeling to it like Clutch or Nashville Pussy or something (don’t misunderstand, they don’t sound anything like those bands). Now Denial is hard to describe because there are a lot of different things happening here. Check them out for yourself if you dig stoned out, post hardcore stuff. KMK
– Give Me Back

Stoner rock with a singer that sounds like he’s in dire need of a good hug. -Jimmy Alvarado
– Razorcake