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.
