Aberrant Kingdom AK LP
Sixteen years in the making, Pittsburgh’s ABERRANT KINGDOM debuts with this ten-track LP. Comprised of James May on guitar and vocals, Ian Tepper on drums, and Pat Herron on bass, AK is a garage-y with blown-out amp/tape saturation guitar (sounds fucking awesome) and strained, mid-to-higher-register vocals that almost remind me BAD BRAINS (albeit, not at a breakneck tempo). Rhythms shuffle, chug, and sludge along over big, splashy drums, creating a looseness that is contrasted by sections of really tight riffing that keep everyone in lockstep; a well-achieved contrast. At times a doom metal band (opener “Fiscal Clit”), at some a prog riff-machine (“Aberrant Kingdom”), at others a good-time garage rock outfit (“Brag and Boast”)—whatever’s happening, it works for me. You can hear the love and work that they’ve put into these songs over the last sixteen years, honing every bar from drum fill to errant howl. This truly rips.