RED FANG - WHALES & LEECHES

Portland, OR's Red Fang get by on pure unadulterated rock n' roll badassery. They don't have the clearly defined pop sensibilities of Torche, the experimental streak of Kylesa, or the chameleon-like abilities of Baroness. Since 2009, they've been delivering their own special brand of sludge metal that sounds best when cranked to 11, with smiles on their faces and tongues in their cheeks. Whales & Leeches, their third full-length, offers more of what we've come to expect from the group, and can only be described as a hard-rocking, hard-partying good time.

Although one would be hard-pressed to call Whales & Leeches a radical reinvention of any sort, to their credit, Red Fang do try a few new things this time around. There's a seven-minute Melvins-inspired sludge opus entitled "Dawn Rising," featuring guest vocals courtesy of Mike Scheidt of psych-metal weirdos YOB, placed smack dab in the middle of the record that breaks things up a bit. The song's climax is stopped dead in its tracks by crystal clean electric guitars over distant feedback and far away sound effects, hinting at something sinister that sound like nothing else on the record.