Ritual Abuse

VINYL FORMAT. Richmond's Cough delivers thoroughly massive, psychedelic doom on their aptly titled Relapse debut Ritual Abuse. The album's five epic tracks are impenetrable walls of sludge; at points suffocating and claustrophobic, at others warped and hallucinogenic. Ritual Abuse is an impressive monolith of sound and volume, and one of the finest moments yet of twenty-first century doom. 'This time around, Cough enlisted the considerable talents of metal mercenary Sanford Parker to act as midwife for the undoubtedly long, hard, bloody birth of Ritual Abuse . . . As the band themselves said, "Ritual Abuse is the result of all the shit and suffering we put ourselves through to continue to write this music. Hopefully you all feel as miserable listening to it as we did creating it." What do they sound like? Think Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Orange Goblin, Corrupted, Eyehategod and, of course, Black Sabbath - throw 'em all together, toss in some Orange amps and take their drugs away. The nihilistic feedback drones, crushingly heavy, lurching riffs and distorted Delta blues that result are all Cough. As for the name? Listen to the beginning of 'Sweet Leaf,' and it'll make a lot more sense.' - Kim Kelly / Noise Creep