BORIS
Smile
(Southern Lord)

HELLBLOCK 6
Nuclear Age
(World Eater)

AHLEUCHATISTAS
Even in the Midst...
(Cuneiform)

GLOOMY SUNDAY
Beyond Good and Evil
(Solitude Prod)

SQUALORA
S/T
(Wantage)

BUSH TETRAS
Very Very Happy 

(ROIR)

POPULATION
REDUCTION
At the Throats of Man Forever

(Tankcrimes)

MORE REVIEWS

Another one with killer artwork. It got me thinking about Cannibal Holocaust and the impression that fucking film got in me when I watched back when I was about ten years old. I couldn’t eat for about a week after that one. I revisited the film about three years ago and I am sure director Ruggero Deodato must be proud. The film is still as repulsive as ever. That said, Hellblock 6 is as of now, much like the annoying American characters of the movie, deader than the first Pope. Philadelphia’s Hellblock 6 split up back in April 2006 and Nuclear Age is their last testament to the metal underground.

Recorded in only fifteen hours back in 2002, this record rips holes in all the right places. There is a big quotient of sludge here, except the guitars don't have that porous sound. On the contrary, Nuclear Age sounds like chunky servings of raw meat force fed into your mouth. Shit, does that make sense at all? The sound is thick, with a throbbing bass  that hangs loose and a robust guitar sound. Don’t like violence? I suggest you turn around right now and walk away.

Nuclear Age starts slow, “Turned Insane” has the sluggish tempo of a nasty stoner band, while on “Go Die” Hellblock 6 picks up the pace and gives us its own interpretation of Philadelphia D-beat. “Damien” opens with a sample of the Omen 2, and follows through with what to this band is a frenetic tempo.  On the title track the band’s stoner influences clearly come afloat; groove-laden passages give way to entrancing doom riffs. The drowned and filtered vocals of the aptly named drummer Antman give the whole album an eerie aura of deception, but man, are these riffs soul bearing. The title track in question is so massive; it comes to a climatic end of sparkling pseudo psychedelic solos and basically all I am left with is a question; how come I’ve never heard of Hellblock 6 before?

Judging the album by the cover only I feel like I was tricked into thinking Hellblock 6 were a death metal combo. Preconceived notions are rarely accurate. As we enter into “Blue Sunshine/Cast Down” Hellblock 6 seem to head down south via cry baby heavy riffs, “Lies of the Eye” sweeps with windy sounds and gentle acoustic strumming, but is only a gateway to the second side of the record; here Hellblock 6 continues on, forging flawless songs between straight up death rock (“Lies of the Eye”), quality stoner/sludge and at times, dead on Sleep worship. I never knew them back then but now I miss them so much.

Official Site