Great Vengeance And Furious Fire (2007) by The Heavy
The Heavy make the kind of dirty, guitar-scorched hip hop soul which
leads you into temptation. And then you’re going to burn. The dark side
of four boys from the arse-end of Bath, the beast of Bodmin Moor, half
man/half wolf, The Heavy specialise in making everything wrong sound
right. So successful are they, so good does it feel, so natural, that
voodoo filth will be pouring through you before you know what’s going
on.
From the moment you hear first single, “That Kind of Man,” you know
only exorcism can save you. Combining the gritty bottom end of classic
Wu Tang with wall-of-sound guitar wailing and raw blues-soul, it’s
instantly recognisable and utterly addictive, Swaby’s
sweet-yet-threatening vocal raising it to another level. “Coleen” is a
more stripped-down hip hop groove, with backing singers giving the tune
a Stax-on-acid feel. “Set Me Free” throws acoustic guitar in to the mix
for a more laid-back (though still rhythmically driving) number. “You
Don’t Know” shows heavier rock influences, a building pile-up of
riffage. “Girl” gives Swaby a chance to show off his (slightly tongue
in cheek) rapping style, over a rhythm which can only be described as
Kinks-meets-Marly Marl. “Doing Fine” is the emotional centrepiece of
the album, a downhome blues straight outta the West Country. “In The
Morning” is frugging and flithy. “Bruk Pocket Lament” sounds like
classic blues brought bang up to date and reeling from too much meths.
And the raging “Dignity” ain’t going to stand no fucking with it, seen?
The album finishes with “Who Needs The Sunshine,” which carries echoes
of the Bristol scene of Massive Attack and Tricky, but reconstituted as
an epic country blues.
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