Big Naturals & Antrhoprophh – Big Naturals & Anthroprophh (Cardinal Fuzz Records, 2016)

Cardinal Fuzz create a behemoth of a supergroup by pairing the Big Natural rhythm section of bassist Gareth Turner and drummer Jesse Webb with the wall-rattling guitar excursions of Paul “Anthroprophh” Allen for an incredible head trip to the outer galaxies of your mind. Side one is taken over by the 21-minute fuzz monster ‘God-Shaped Hole’, a hulking, stalking electric throb of heavy metal chaos and krautrockian electronics that marry stoner vibes, Sabbathian sludge, and moto-riff-ic skinpounding into a collage of wall-rattling headpounding that may just shake your noggin right off your neck. Bevis & Butthead give it a thumbs up, and so do I. And I’m glad they didn’t just hit stun levels immediately out of the gat – they give the track room to breathe and grow, pausing for a pondering electro hum/buzz midway though the trip so we can retrieve our collective consciousness and put it back inside our skulls.

     ‘Farce Without End’ may be even more ferocious: a punishing, pummeling pounding of epic proportions (well, ten minutes anyway), with Allen’s paint-peeling soloing and the Big Naturals incessant tungsten steel rhythmic reverberations hellbent on bleeding every ear in the neighbourhood. Some snazzy, jazzy piano flourishes are almost buried in the ensuing maelstrom, but do add a little respite from total aural annihilation.

     If you make it to ‘Narwhallian Social Purge’ with your hearing intact, Pete Townshend wants to know your secret. In the meantime, hold on for dear life as the BN&A juggernaut are not done with you yet. Maniacal pronouncements pour out from behind atonal riffing and total mayhem full of arcade electronics and stunning knob-twiddling that ooze like melted butterscotch down the inside of your cranium until ‘Chubbuck’s Last Tape (Another Nail)’ buzzcuts its way into your third eye, slitting it like Buñuel & Dali’s razor. Like the Jaws shark pursuing another tasty morsel, the trio rip off screaming solos, octopus-armed drumming, and floorsinking bass throbbing while an omnipotent hum buzzes around your ears like a giant mosquito.

     Forty-five sucker-punched minutes later you can let out that breath you’ve been holding and finally release your clenched fists and bowels and return to your boring life. Unless, of course, you want to turn the record over and start again.

Cardinal Fuzz Records

– Jeff Penczak
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