With stoner metal, monotony is as much a part of the proceedings as heavy eyelids and Cheetos. But the genre gets enlivened on the new four-song EP from Akron’s Sofa King Killer, which peppers its sound with a taste of acoustic blues and melodic riff rock.

The opener, “Die Like an Astronaut,” sticks true to the sludgecore form: all oppressive, funereal guitars, with frontman Ryan Burgy growling like Clutch’s Neil Fallon on a diet of unfiltered cigarettes. But then the instrumental “Blues Couch” breaks rank with emotive slide guitar and doleful organ, and “CLE” distinguishes itself with sweeping, Dickey Betts-style soloing, before the album ends with another sampling of black doom in the form of “Burn the Fields.” Get this disc and feel the heat.

This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2003.