Kingcrimsonprog Black Tusk’s 2010 release Taste The Sin is the band’s third full length studio outing and something of a breakthrough album in terms of popularity.

Sharing the Savannah Virgina hometown with Kylesa and Baroness, as well as artwork duties from John Baizely who is in Baroness and has also painted for Kylesa, it would seem that the marketing for this sludge and hardcore punk influenced trio is perfectly set up to recommend them to fans of Baroness and Kylesa (and by extension Mastodon.)

Black Tusk’s sound is much less psychedelic/prog influenced than the aforementioned bands; a lot more dirty, low-fi and punk feeling, delivering that pure rock and roll attitude through fast and hammering songs with a sort of grimy and sweaty production sound. The band themselves have been known to use the term ‘Swamp Metal,’ to describe their sound.

The album itself is all about attitude, delivering buzzing bass tones with slapping drums and noisy feedback-mess mixed with expertly handled big grooves and heavy riffs. The kind of songs where you can actually feel the musician’s fingers on the strings, and the power in the drummer’s shoulders as the hammers the toms.

Highlights include the speedy ‘The Way Of Horse And Bow,’ the crunchy and groove filled ‘Snake Charmer,’ as well as lead single ‘Red Eyes, Black Skies.’

Overall, Taste The Sin is a solid and enjoyable album from Black Fang. There is a lot to like on this particular album, in terms of energetic and heavy material and they are certainly worth checking out as a band if you like this type of music, dirty and sludgy as it is.

UMUR "Taste the Sin" is the 2nd full-length studio album by American sludge/hardcore act Black Tusk. The album was released through Relapse Records in May 2010. In addition to the debut album "Passage Through Purgatory (2008)", the band have releaesd a string of demos, splits and an EP, but "Taste the Sin" is my first encounter with Black Tusk.

The music on the 34:08 minutes long album is aggressive sludge/hardcore. The tracks are simple and powerful but maybe lack a bit when it comes to an original sound. It´s initially not that important though as the the music is delivered with fierce conviction and raw power. I´m especially fond of the vocals on the album. All three musicians deliver vocals in addition to playing their instruments (guitar, bass and drums) and their different vocal styles (all aggressive type vocal styles that actually remind me a bit of the vocal style on the early Neurosis albums) really provide that part of the album with some good variation. The sound production suits the music well. It´s raw and to the point.

So if you enjoy your sludge metal with a simple, energetic and aggressive hardcore edge, "Taste the Sin" might be your poison. While it´s not a major issue and each track is both well composed and well played, the lack of an original sound is a show stopper in the end. It´s not a major issue but the longevity of the album suffers because of it. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.