Anatomy of Habit – “Anatomy of Habit” – [Bloodlust]

Thurston Hunger   11/9/2011   12-inch, A Library

Thickago! Five man band, two songs, two sides, ten tons.
Purposeful plodding, Dylan Posa’s drums redoubled by
Blake Edwards’ bonus percussion. Hard to call this doom
or metal, as there is so much space in each epic. Hard
to call it punk, but it has a lean, stripped down
energy to it, without ever rocking the 4/4. Mark
Solotroff’s minimal abject vocals, sung as if into a
casket. A heavy undertaking here indeed. A minor hint
of ceremony to the pieces, without a drop of pomp.
Feels like keys on “Overcome” but it’s probably Greg
Ratajczak’s guitar ratcheting up the tension before huge
slashing start-and-stop chords. Kind of like Om in
demeanor and atmosphere, but swapping out stoner riff
swagger for more methodical art crimes. Each song
feels like a boxing match that goes extra rounds,
certain lyric phrases jabbed into your kidney through
repeated blows, and etched into the run-out groove.
May we have another soon, please.

-Thurston Hunger