UMUR "Here Come the Waterworks" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Seattle based heavy/sludge metal act Big Business. The album was released through Hydra Head Records in March 2007. It´s the successor to "Head for the Shallow" from 2004. The album features the three-piece lineup of Jared Warren (bass, vocals), Coady Willis (drums), and David Scott Stone (guitar, noise).

Stylistically the material on "Here Come the Waterworks" pretty much continues the vocals, drums, and bass dominated sound of "Head for the Shallow (2004)". Guitars are a part of the sound, but it´s definitely the least dominant element of the compositions and they predominantly create atmosphere, rather than churn out heavy riffs and leads. Adventurous organic drumming, a huge distorted bass, and Jared Warren´s sandpaper raw vocals in front is a pretty valid description of what you´ll hear when listening to "Here Come the Waterworks". The music is an ultra heavy sludgy type of metal, delivered with great power and a fair amount of aggression. The trio lineup format gives the band a great organic edge, so while "Here Come the Waterworks" is a structured album, there is a loose touch to the compositions, which gives them room to breathe.

All material on the 8 track, 40:45 minutes long are well written and memorable. Energetic and hard rocking tracks like "Hands Up" and "Start Your Digging" are complimented by heavy tracks like "Another Fourth of July... Ruined" and "I'll Give You Something to Cry About", and in the spirit of variation Big Business close the album with the atmospheric instrumental track "Another Beautiful Day in the Pacific Northwest".

The musicianship is on a high level. Willis is a skilled and creative drummer, Warren is a great bassist, who plays both rythmic figures and distorted riffs on his instrument, and his vocals are fiercely aggressive yet always with a strong melodic sensibility. Stone´s contributions are as mentioned above not a dominant part of the soundscape, but he adds an ekstra atmospheric spice to the music, which is invaluable. Had he not been there, some parts would probably have felt a bit "empty". "Here Come the Waterworks" features a powerful and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly, so upon conclusion it´s a high quality sophomore release by Big Business and a step up from the promising debut album. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Head for the Shallow" is the debut full-length studio album by US sludge metal act Big Business. The album was released through Hydra Head Records in November 2004.

It´s apparent from the opening notes of "Head for the Shallow", that Big Business are a very unique sounding act, with their distorted bass, drums and vocal dominated sound. It´s not everyday you come across a metal act where the guitar plays second violin to everything else. There´s a rather obvious Melvins influence in the music, but other than that Big Business have a pretty unique sound. The tracks are generally simple yet effective and raw. Lead vocalist/bassist Jared Warren has an extremely raw and rusty voice (the man sounds like he has swallowed rusty nails) and his vocal performance here is a great asset to the music.

There´s a nice energy in the music and the rythm section really excel in driving the music forward. There´s something irresistibly charming about Big Business and it all starts with that well playing and adventurous rythm section. The sound production is raw and powerful too, which is always great, but the actual songwriting is slightly lacking. While there are some incredibly powerful, raw and catchy tracks (and moments in other tracks) on "Head for the Shallow", the tracks aren´t always that memorable. It´s something the band would successfully improve on for their next album. It´s a minor issue though and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still more than deserved.