The recent passing of Eyehategod’s drummer extraordinaire Joey Lacaze has had me revisiting all of their full-length releases from the very beginnings to the latest one this week. On this first occasion of writing for El Gore, I’m going to address one of my personal favorites from all of their musical productions, and also the one we could consider as their “first”: In the Name of Suffering.
For those of you who aren’t avid listeners of anything that has to do with sludge, stoner or doom, this band and album might not exactly appeal to your senses. Hell, I’d even advise people with sensitive brain cells to stay the fuck away from it, given the risk of severe irreparable trauma. But for listeners who thrive off of listening to music of this caliber, such as myself, this one is without question an incredible dose of vein-induced raw, ton-weighting, atmospheric misanthropic loudness, with lyrics ranging from themes such as drug abuse, self-hatred, depression and suicide to misery and murder. Straight from the beginning, with hymns of sludge like “Depress”, “Man Is Too Ignorant to Exist”, “Run It into the Ground”, the brutally hilarious “Godsong” (with the guest sampled quotes of Charles Manson) to the ending, and the one I think is my personal favorite, “Left to Starve”.
In the Name of Suffering is one of the few albums out there in the extreme music world that is, for lack of a better description, authentic, original, and scary for some. Their entire style and set up leaves the listener convinced that what they are hearing is real, regardless of whether or not they like it. It’s made clear that it’s not just a group of people trying to be extreme or shocking for the sake of it. From the swamps of Louisiana and the dark corners of New Orleans, it’s legitimate piss and vinegar coming straight to your melting ears.
This very first brew made Eyehategod pioneers of heavy music, and the release itself became one of the first of its kind, and certainly an essential pillar within the family. It’s the sort of album that can, and should be appreciated for how it has influenced the genre and paved the way for a number of solid albums. It’s certainly a genre-defining release. Influencing what came after, and a testimony to how Eyehategod would only get better with posterior albums.
Highly recommended to fans of sludge, doom, stoner or drone metal in general.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOi2Eg2yYKY]
This review was written by our new freelancer Victor!