Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Land Of Sleeper
Release Date: 17th February 2023
Label: Rocket Recordings
Bandcamp
Genre: Doom, Psychedelic Metal, Krautrock, Sludge, Stoner.
FFO: Uncle Acid, Motorhead, Blom.
Review By: Liam True
Having been around since 2012, the Geordie quintet went undetected by me until the release of 2018’s King Of Cowards, and since then they’ve been one of my favourite bands in the UK underground. With the release of 2020s Viscerals however, the landscape for them changed. Getting bigger and better in their live performances and song writing, Land Of Sleeper has found them, at what I personally, would call their peak.
The longer songs they were known for in their earlier outputs are still present, but shorter, more direct punches to the guts are here too. From start to finish, Land Of Sleeper is your typical PigsX7 record but with some added extras. While the use of synth hasn’t been something the band has ever shied away from, it’s more prominent on this album, building it to be better and more structured.
Ultimate Hammer kicks in with the grisly guitar tone of Adam Sykes as a build-up, then the band kicks in as the riff from Sykes & Sam Grant echoes, with the powerful bass of John-Michael Hedley backing up the proceedings and returning/founding drummer Ewan Mackenzie beats the ever loving hell out of the kit for the next 41 minutes of the album.
Terrors Pillow, while being the slowest song on the album, isn’t immune to the Pigs treatment of being a heavy dose of doom/stoner metal, with the repeating guitar loop of Sykes & Grant creating a feeling of endless horror and the vocals of Matthew Baty being the epicentre of falling into the abyss.
Big Rig fluctuates between the speedier side of their output and then back to the beatdown doom-laden tone of the previous songs, but doesn’t let you catch your breath as the changes hit you hard and quick. The Weatherman is the longest song on the album, and for me personally it’s the worst. It’s more of an atmospheric attempt, which for me falls flat and is more filler than anything else. Its vocals are a little repetitive and slightly monotone. The guitars are still hitting you with a gritty psych tone, but feel too simplified to be believed to be from Pigs.
Mr Medicine is where the album picks back up as the band launch into the speed metal side of their brains, sounding like Motorhead mixed with Uncle Acid, creating a weird but almost mesmerising song. Pipe Down! is a more experimental song with more synth than any other song on the record and with Baty’s vocals hitting a higher pitch and the drums of Mackenzie punching through the band, it’s a fantastic song that could well be the album ender.
Atlas Stone & Ball Lightning are two great songs back-to-back, and the guitar punishing ending of Ball Lightning just screams pain and agony. From start to finish, Pigs have given you everything you know about the band. But this time, on Land Of Sleeper, it’s more aggressive, abrasive and in your face than ever before.
(4 / 5)
