ROBOTS AND EMPIRE
Omnivore
(Trip Machine)

NYIA/ANTIGAMA
Split
(SelfMadeGod)

BROWN JENKINS
Dagonite
(Moribund)

SLOTH
A Whole Other World of Fun
(At War With False Noise)

CAN KICKERS
Live at Lavazone
(Fistolo)

LOOM
Angler 

(Exigent)

HATER
The 2nd

(Burn Burn Burn)

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What a sludge! That’s how the guitars sound, a bit muddied up and dense with a thick tone that’s capable of carrying tons of debris but at the same time really ready to rock.  For a few seconds I felt like I had fallen in quicksand and I could not do anything but shake my body to the snake charming melody of the first song “Pure Shit” and therefore assuring that death may be coming sooner than necessary.  It’s a matter of calming down and making decisions with a cold head; an idea that this four piece Poughskeepie, NY band certainly has kept in mind during the making of Omnivore. Then I was liberated; not only because I took a look at some of the most bizarre artwork I’ve seen in a while (flying turtles shooting something through their eyes, strong orange background, helicopters and a green arm doing the whole invisible orange position) and realized that we may be in for a quirky ride but because as we get deeper into the album Robots and Empire’s real sound reveals itself.

This is not unlike the post hardcore of Quicksand; except Robots and Empire has a thicker guitar sound and a more groove oriented approach. I’ve seen the word ‘molasses’ appearing in lots of reviews lately, so I’ll go ahead and throw that word in this review too. I am sure it fits here somewhere. Alas, I shall not say that Robots and Empire is doom. Ok, maybe in counted occasions, (the middle section of “Spider Mites”). “Pure Shit” for instance, is almost doom in spirit and resembles in tempo, guitars and vocals the approach of Miami’s Torche.  Another great band that comes to mind is the somewhat spacey work of Cave In. Like the artwork apparently reveals (whether it actually reveals something or is pure absurdism, is up for discussion), there might be something to that effect here too; the whole bizarre sci fi vibe is in. Good stuff; especially how in the middle things get a bit trippy through laidback singing and ethereal string work. “Monolith” like its title indicates; is massive stuff with deafening guitars and “Skywelder” is heavy but so un-metal I thought of bands like Chum, Gruntruck and a few other grunge acts. Not to say that Chum was grunge. And not to say that Robots and Empire do not sound like themselves;  because after you go over the solid fourteen tracks offered in Omnivore and you find out how fucking massive and how ….err… coagulated these songs are you’ll do nothing but think of Robots and Empire instead of any of the others above mentioned.

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