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STUDFAUST
Where The Underdogs Bark EP

Soulseller (2014)
Rating: 6/10

Norwegian duo Studfaust provide a conniving fist to the mid-section with their devilish, rust-bucket of a debut EP.

Born in Oslo during 2011, messrs Tore Bratseth and Faust (known to you guys as Bård Faust from Emperor) are possibly the last word in clanking, dishevelled, leather-clad metal. As if the soiled sounds of Motörhead, Darkthrone, Tank et al aren’t enough, this duo – now aided by one Pete Evil – comes fully armoured like some once merciless tank brought out of retirement for one last rampage across the ashen wastes. Loose, raw, and primitive by design, Where The Underdogs Bark is a predictable yet wretchedly joyous racket of drunken wildness channelled via Bratseth’s typically oily rasp and Mr Evil’s rumbling bass which’ll leave oil slicks all over the carpet.

Studfaust offer up seven punchy tracks which are more a case of breakin’ chains rather than breakin’ boundaries. ‘Half Human, Half Dynamite’, the title track, ‘Hell Is Full’ et al, are all delivered like a rusty old steam train homing in on a brick wall, and you just know the result is going to be messy. It’s straight up thunder metal with a few sizzling solos amidst the murk, but it’s nothing you haven’t heard before as Bratseth rants in barking mad fashion. The climax is a punked up frenzy known as ‘1980’s Ladies’, which was released two years previously as a single. Again, it’s that typically raucous, rusty melody that the album has offered throughout.

Mind you, ‘1980’s Ladies’ is probably the least threatening of all the tracks and actually makes a nice change from what soon becomes a repetitive array of noise which after a short while seems to melt into one long drunken brawl that carries on late into the night, even though the album only last 20 minutes. Where The Underdogs Bark doesn’t do exactly what it says on the tin, because it is the bloody tin – all mangled and oxidized from being beaten around by that sordid guitar sound and then eventually chewed up and spat out by Bratseth.

It appears that once again the metal scene is being a tad tired, crammed pack full of same-sounding bands that either seem intent to ape the 80s thrash scene, or opt for straight up revival metal. At times Studfaust occupy a murky middle-ground between both, but it’s a void already full I’m afraid. For a few minutes of boozy mayhem Studfaust may just hit the spot, but as a long term commitment albums like this will just fizzle in the light like a vampire succumbing to the sun’s rays.

Neil Arnold

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