‘Satan’s War’ is lo-fi ‘70s CROW and ICECROSS worship, yet that’s not to say the sound is thin or otherwise deficient; rather, the rough ‘n’ ragged mix adds to the draw in this age of even “occult” bands sounding fresh off the factory floor at Baphomet-Mart. When the song builds and builds…and builds to a rousing climax, you know the duo are both worshippers and students of the craft. A boogie-type riff and blues rhythm form the backbone of ‘Demon’ Fabio Allesandrini destroying preconceptions and displaying himself as not only a competent but sonically interesting drummer out from behind the ANNIHILATOR kit.
‘Burning Water’ tosses elements of WEEDEATER and BONGZILLA into the cauldron, invoking a time when the riff was king and you bought albums because of the cover and song titles alone, never having heard the band. It’s with ‘When You Were Dead’ that SALTPIG begins to truly shine its lovely, greasy pink light upon us all, syrupy, tone-heavy and omnivorous. I can hear a bit of ACID KING here, but Messrs. Davis and Allesandrini are on their own trip here, working to carve out their own sound and – by and large – succeeding.
After a feverish ‘Burn The Witch’, the whole thing (and almost half of the album’s running time, for that matter) ignites with closer ‘1950’. Here I was, 1:59 in and hoping I wasn’t about to be stuck with another 17:51 of freaked-out space jam wanderings that never really went anywhere when 2:00 hit and so did a catchy, instantly enthralling riff that physically removed the top of my skull. Oh, don’t get me wrong at all. This whole damn near 20-minute monster is from space, and is freaked out, and is wandering, but in that very best way. Warped, clearly analogue and I’d be shocked if this wasn’t simply a divine moment of “Let’s let the tape roll and see what happens.”. It’s rare that a debut arrives with the band so fully in tune with what it is and wants to be.
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Review By: Lord Randall
SALTPIG
Saltpig
Heavy Psych Sounds Records