Weedeater

God Luck and Good Speed

Southern Lord 2007

Rawer and dirtier than any doom band you have ever heard sweeps in North Carolina's Weedeater.  The remnants of Buzzov-en reassembled for this thick and morose excursion in swampy harshness.  These guitars just drip with humidity and grime like the walls of an abandoned swamp shack crumpling in ruin and reclaimed by the damp earth.  But the one thing that makes Weedeater truly stand out are the gravelly vocals of "Dixie" Dave Collins whom will either enslave you or repulse you.  There are few vocalists in this world more harsh.  Weedeater bring a certain southern flavor to their brand of near stoner sludge and listener lose themselves in that meaty wall of sound as if it were an unending cloud of billowing smoke undulating slowly like the monotonous riffs of each track.  And thus lies the crux of this album.  Each song is really repetitive which is both a strength but also a source of boredom.  I mean if you don't like the riff or the direction of the song then that is pretty much all you are getting for the track's entirety.  One real highlight for the album though is Alone which sounds like an old backwoods southern folk song.  I wish Dixie's vocals were a little lower in the mix on that song though as they verge on overpowering it.  All the songs on God Luck and Good Speed minus Alone and the closer Weed Monkey are pretty much in the same vein of lethargic stoner doom with a southern edge dripping off of each guitar riff.  Weedeater is a good band to explore southern stoner with but beyond the confines of that arena I am not sure how much appeal they will have as there are far better doom bands out there.  But there are also far worse and if you are looking for a lightly different flavor for your mellow trip then Weedeater will make a worthy investment.  After listening to God Luck and Good Speed it'll sure be hard to get the Weed Monkey off your back.