Band : Eggnogg
Album Title : III
Label : Self Release
Distributor :
Release Date : 2010
Review : CD

On first glance, you might wonder if this NY band’s name had been taken from the Melvins EP. Whether or not this was the case, a certain amount of Buzzo’s influence is detectable here. That said, it's a bit difficult to pigeonhole Eggnogg.  Essentially, it's doom metal, but at the same time, it's good old sludge. Well, whatever. It's quality stuff.

III clocks in at just over 58 minutes, and every track is between 6-15 minutes long. This allows the band to expand on their ideas for each track. Like so many bands in the heavy doom genre, Sabbath/Electric Wizard/Crowbar’s influences are apparent throughout this release. The interesting mid-paced drum work drags the rumblingly groovy guitar riffs along, creating what is at times a nearly suffocating shroud without falling prone to being a blur of noise. Songwriting is excellent throughout, with the band creating melodic yet monstrous tunes such as “900 year slumber”, “Northern lights” and “God’s will”, Eggnogg’s reliance on bulldozer grooves and pounding rhythms does pay off, as the band seems to find an interesting point of equilibrium in their style. Guitarist/Vocalist Bill O'Sullivan is one of those rare extreme singers whose voice doesn't get lost in the music or overwhelm it. Because of the vocals, this could just be an unreleased bludgeoning album from Alice In Chains.

While hardly the most original band in the world, they treat the listener with catchy slow and mid tempo doom and sludge metal. Eggnogg changed their name into Nogg and I’ll release new material very soon.

85/100

Cosmicmasseur.