by Phil FreemanThis northern California sludge-metal outfit trudges morosely down a path carved by acts like Eyehategod, Acid Bath, and Iron Monkey, which makes their inclusion of a song called Nineties Male on this album something of a bitter joke. While the sound they make isn't bad -- their riffs combine the heaviness of Black Sabbath with the concussive force of hardcore punk, and the drummer slams like a screen door in a hurricane -- it's not terribly original, either. The vocalist's anguished howls have been heard many times before, and without a lyric sheet, the listener will be hard-pressed to figure out what songs like Tramp Stamp, Kilimanjaro Dreamin', or the title track are meant to convey. The one truly interesting idea they have is the penultimate track, a 13-minute instrumental called Heterodox Nonconformists that's like a cross between Godflesh's Pure II and Read more