MEDUSA "EN RAGA SÜL" CD/LP
www.medusakills.com
An unknown name to many outside of Clash of the Titans fans, Medusa stand poised to deliver a sonic deathblow to all that is false with En Raga Sul, the deadliest 15 tracks to grace a vinyl platter in a long fucking time. Consisting of 3/4ths of the creative nucleus of the juggernaut Racebannon, Medusa bludgeon the listener with a riff-centric cyclone that sounds like Slayer playing Melvins covers through the MC5’s equipment. You’ve never heard anything quite like it, and when En Raga Sul is over, you will be left beaten, torn, and begging for more oxygen, and one more listen. Toiling amongst the shades for their formative years, Medusa spent almost 5 years constructing a solid lineup and a solid stable of impure jams designed to level and destroy all that stands in their path. En Raga Sul is their only recording to date, and living proof that the way of the tortoise is often times the correct one for those who walk the left hand path. Instead of releasing some watered-down “BS” in the name of record sales and hype, Medusa honed and crafted a maelstrom of tar-stained riffs, thunderous drumming, and vocal incantations with more drama, tension, and hatred than an average Destiny’s Child practice. Sludgey riffs knuckle-drag themselves out of the dankest of swamps, only to careen into fast distorted oblivion at the drop of a hat, with the listener losing 5d20 with each successive passage. Tracks like 'Wicked Father', 'Rain un Thunder', 'Throne of God', 'Flesh Fly', 'Destructor', and the title track leave no room for breath, false moves, or faked jacks: this is the real deal. No girl clothes, no banjos, and no weak shit. Medusa is a blood-thirsty riff-centric weed machine that eats life and shits death, and En Raga Sul takes no prisoners. Less an “album” and more of a trance-inducing black ritual of catharsis, Hawthorne Street Records, Monotonstudio Records and Medusa have teamed up to deliver a bestial 12 inches of raw fury. The question is, are you strong enough in constitution and intestinal fortitude to stand up against the 15 tracks on En Raga Sul? (D.Britts)
Reviews:
"...these guys assault Melvins-style doom with a nasty punk rock cockslap" - Prefixmag.com
"Medusa takes their idea of a heavy metal riff, and then just pounds the shit out of it for two minutes straight in a repetitive, thundering way. And I've got to admit, it's pretty awesome. These short bursts of songs are what keeps the album fresh and listenable." - Punknews.org
“EN RAGA SuL takes you through a small medieval atmosphere where you seem unsure about everything around you, but there’s something peculiar keeping you from leaving. From shiny, screaming guitars, to distorted thrash metal riffs and drumming like a giant banging away on aluminum pots, this album is able to keep you on your toes as each track plays through with a forcible, menacing manner." - WayTooLoud.com
"Imagine Fugazi on crack, playing a bunch of metal covers. That was my first impression of the new one from Medusa. Style and direction have no place in the music created by these fine young men. Instead, they opt to take you and drag your face across many different musical landscapes. As unpredictable as a California wildfire, Medusa go from one extreme to the other in the blink of an eye, destroying everything in their path. While one song may be a slow, droning, Melvins-esque crusher, the next may be a super thrashy face melter followed by an ambient experimental jam. The vocals are all over the place as well. Just when you think you got it all figured out, they throw you through another loop. After listening to "En Raga Sul" , I didn't know whether to raise my hands in victory or hang my head in defeat. Either way, I got my ass kicked. This band's moniker fits them well, as Medusa surely have all the makings of a mythological beast of legend." - Jim McGruder (http://www.thesaltypirate.com)
“En Raga Sül is a no-nonsense, no-fucking-around pile up of thrash, hardcore and noise-rock that rarely lingers long enough to be casually cast as any. Think The Stooges jamming with members of the Melvins and Slayer: harsh, challenging, engaging and relentlessly dynamic…” – Metal Hammer
“Nearly every track wrings pure joy from menace, while rocking like a towering great bastard.” - Terrorizer
“Veering from attritional pounding riffs, vile screams and distorted vocals to more full-on, full-speed punk intensity, this is consistently ace stuff.” – Rock Sound
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Medusa - En Raga Sül
Fieser Scheiß, das hier! Whoa! Mit RACEBANNON vertraut, den MELVINS-Anbetern aus Bloomington, Indiana? Die schlugen 2008 mit „Acid Or Blood" zurück, einem fiesen Noiserock-Album auf höchstem Niveau, und jetzt gibt es noch etwas mehr davon, allerdings unter anderem Namen: MEDUSA, so verrät das Label, sei zu 3/4 der kreative Kern von RACEBANNON, und der geht sogar noch etwas schärfer und mit einem unglaublich fiesen, straighten Gitarrensound zur Sache.
Alte BUTTHOLE SURFERS höre ich hier raus, natürlich auch wieder die MELVINS, die komplexe Rhythmik von NOMEANSNO, die Schärfe von SCRATCH ACID - kurzum, alles, was an hochgepitchtem Weirdocore gut ist, steckt hier drin.
Kommt im Klappcover und als Enhanced-CD mit Videoclip.
Bewertung 8/10
Joachim Hiller © by Ox-Fanzine / Ausgabe #82 (Februar/März 2009)
MEDUSA REVIEW - OX ZINE
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MEDUSA REVIEW - VICE GERMANY
Für all die da draußen, denen Racebannon in letzter Zeit etwas zu sehr abgehoben sind mit ihren Drei-Sekunden-Tracks, ihren metaphysischen Amokläufen, tritt deren Nebenbeschäftigung Medusa ein paar Schritte zurück in Richtung Gotteslästerung, Black Sabbath aus der Entombed-Perspektive und „Today Is The Day durch den Schlamm gezogen“. Eine Ode an die niederen Instinkte, wie man sie seit Carnivore und Boris Beckers geheimen Tagebüchern selten gehört hat. 9/10 PUNKTE
- VICE MAG
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Nasty. That’s the first impression that you’ll get after listening to the
debut album from US Sludgesters Medusa, formed from members of the rather kickass
Racebannon. Not perhaps as nasty in the traditional Eyehategod or Grief manner,
but there’s a wholesome unpleasantness to En Raga Sül that makes it a great listen.
Imagine a pissed-up Melvins playing Punk covers with an even drunker
Queens Of The Stone Age and you’re mostly there, the energy that each song
possesses being remarkable. Songs rarely last more than two minutes long,
the longest track present being just over three, and they’re all possessed of
big fat riffs that will knock you down and rub your face in the dirt whilst
giggling maniacally. There’s a pleasing MC5 quality to it all, a rawness
that makes the songs rock that much harder, and whilst listening to much
can drag a little, the songs are varied enough to make it enjoyable enough.
Really, there’s little to complain about. Taking a few examples at random,
Transform is a feedback-filled foot-tapper that hovers in the air buzzing
like a bad-tempered mosquito before exploding in a frenzied tantrum.
Bruiser shuffles along like a particularly snotty Punk track before
Throne Of God chaotically goes for the epic touch, riffs crashing
around you like furious waves. Inflict The Venom goes all Drone on your ass,
whilst album finale Wicked Father grooves like it’s being played on the radio.
It is a bit of a single-minded listen, when all is said and done;
the moshpit rage would be even better tempered with more mellow parts,
but for what it is En Raga Sül rocks pretty hard, and Sludge fans that
enjoy it Punk-style will love this.
rating: 72/100
MEDUSA REVIEW
Alte BUTTHOLE SURFERS höre ich hier raus, natürlich auch wieder die MELVINS, die komplexe Rhythmik von NOMEANSNO, die Schärfe von SCRATCH ACID - kurzum, alles, was an hochgepitchtem Weirdocore gut ist, steckt hier drin.
Kommt im Klappcover und als Enhanced-CD mit Videoclip.
Bewertung 8/10
Joachim Hiller © by Ox-Fanzine / Ausgabe #82 (Februar/März 2009)
MEDUSA REVIEW - OX ZINE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEDUSA REVIEW - VICE GERMANY
Für all die da draußen, denen Racebannon in letzter Zeit etwas zu sehr abgehoben sind mit ihren Drei-Sekunden-Tracks, ihren metaphysischen Amokläufen, tritt deren Nebenbeschäftigung Medusa ein paar Schritte zurück in Richtung Gotteslästerung, Black Sabbath aus der Entombed-Perspektive und „Today Is The Day durch den Schlamm gezogen“. Eine Ode an die niederen Instinkte, wie man sie seit Carnivore und Boris Beckers geheimen Tagebüchern selten gehört hat. 9/10 PUNKTE
- VICE MAG
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasty. That’s the first impression that you’ll get after listening to the
debut album from US Sludgesters Medusa, formed from members of the rather kickass
Racebannon. Not perhaps as nasty in the traditional Eyehategod or Grief manner,
but there’s a wholesome unpleasantness to En Raga Sül that makes it a great listen.
Imagine a pissed-up Melvins playing Punk covers with an even drunker
Queens Of The Stone Age and you’re mostly there, the energy that each song
possesses being remarkable. Songs rarely last more than two minutes long,
the longest track present being just over three, and they’re all possessed of
big fat riffs that will knock you down and rub your face in the dirt whilst
giggling maniacally. There’s a pleasing MC5 quality to it all, a rawness
that makes the songs rock that much harder, and whilst listening to much
can drag a little, the songs are varied enough to make it enjoyable enough.
Really, there’s little to complain about. Taking a few examples at random,
Transform is a feedback-filled foot-tapper that hovers in the air buzzing
like a bad-tempered mosquito before exploding in a frenzied tantrum.
Bruiser shuffles along like a particularly snotty Punk track before
Throne Of God chaotically goes for the epic touch, riffs crashing
around you like furious waves. Inflict The Venom goes all Drone on your ass,
whilst album finale Wicked Father grooves like it’s being played on the radio.
It is a bit of a single-minded listen, when all is said and done;
the moshpit rage would be even better tempered with more mellow parts,
but for what it is En Raga Sül rocks pretty hard, and Sludge fans that
enjoy it Punk-style will love this.
rating: 72/100
MEDUSA REVIEW
Zuletzt geändert von monotonstudio