Cattle    

EP

Self Released 2013

This four song EP of doom-ish material is somewhat unique in that it excludes the use of guitar and instead focuses on bass to drive the material.  From the outset of the EP's opener, Rockets you sense the disturbance to your normal preconceptions as the fabric of the song is devoid of standard guitar.  Ambient whines and thick ropey bass push on your eardrums and expand the soundscape that pulls at your psyche.  Screeching vocals and lumbering bass riffs roll over you like an avalanche.  The drums punctuate the stillness with their cymbal rides and snare strikes.  The flow of the song undulates during moments of dissonance while it pulses during periods of stillness.  Whoa Bessie takes matters even further as an almost funky bass line and accompanying drums cause the song to slither.  The track begins to feature lumbering riffs and a minimalist approach to vocals.  They finally make their wavering appearance as they shriek in the distance.  The next track, Sun Fangs + Wide Eyes reaches out from a noisy soundscape towards a post-doom, post-hardcore foundation that echoes with artistic goals and crushing intentions.  The flow of the track is like a wave as it crests and surges through mountains of disharmonic feedback and mountainous destruction.  The final track, Pyramid Shaped Hole, warbles with a western bass line and a post-hardcore pacing for the drums and vocals.  Reminds me a bit of Fugazi for some reason.  The track collapses into a demented and unstable period of bass wandering and screams that then kick into a rhythmic segment that pushes the music towards an explosive climax of Celtic Frosty riffs and squealing accents.  Who would have ever thought Leeds would produce something so musically confounding and mind pounding as Cattle.  Their music is a post-doom playground for bass guitar driven monstrosities.