This is a great little EP featuring two of the better "unknown" sludge bands going to day. HC Minds are from Eugene, Oregon and feature Yob's Isamu Sato on guitar, bass and vocals and Yob mainman Mike Scheidt filling in on drums for this session. They released an album a few years back and then dropped off the radar for a while. Isamu & Co. are back with this new sludge ditty called "Earth Is Hell". Very heavy, downtuned hatred inhabiting a lower register than much of Yob's brand of sludge. If this is a teaser of things to come for HC Minds, bring it on!

Dot(.) are from Tokyo, Japan and are fairly new on the scene but are quickly making a name for themselves. Last year saw their debut on a split 7" with Finland's Fleshpress, and "Ultimate Painkiller" picks up where that left off. Several distinct sections appear in this song as they go from an uptempo stomp to knuckle-dragging sludge to a more mid-tempo groove. They use two vocalists, one in the growly range and one in a more Bongzilla-like upper register and this keeps things fresh in the vocal department. Definitely a band for sludge-fiends to keep an eye on as they have no less than 5 (!!) releases planned for the next year or so from labels such as Kult of Nihilow, Shifty and Blind Date Records.

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