[Review] haarp – The Filth

HAARP
The Filth
[Housecore Records]
Score: 7.5
Stream: “Here in the Dark”

The latest product of Louisiana to barnstorm the heavy metal world comes from Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records. If there is a guy who has an ear for the cutting edge of metal, I bet Phil fits the description, and he has stumbled across a hidden gem known as haarp (purposely misspelled due to legal reasons) from New Orleans that take sludge (or whatever you want to call it) to a whole new level. You have to be a true fan of this style to really appreciate what haarp do, but they make it hard not to like them, even if you aren’t a fan of slow, sloppy mayhem. Grant (Guitars – who looks curiously like Bill Moseley from Devil’s Rejects and Wino had a baby.) riffs away while Ryan drills a merciless bass line into your brain. Meanwhile, Keith pounds ferociously at the kit, creating a wall of sound from which there is no escape. Standing in front of that wall is Shaun, the maestro of this sickening symphony who takes pleasure of ripping your fucking faces off one by one with one of the most abrasive vocal assaults committed to recording in a long while. Much like waves on the ocean, some big, some small, haarp’s music goes from one direction to the next, tempo to tempo, but either way, it all comes crashing down upon you in the end. If you’re looking for breakdowns or catchy choruses here, you are going come up with wish in one hand and shit in the other. These guys aren’t concerned with making music that the kids want to hear. All these dudes want to do is make noise and immerse themselves in their music. This shit is heavy, raw, and not for the faint of heart. Half-time signatures and rumbling tones of distorted aggression never sounded so good. These dudes are like Buzz-Oven, The Melvins and Neurosis’s mean ass little brother. The album is called The Filth, and [Soft Break] I am wallowing in it. (Bubbs)