Taint – Secrets and Lies

Posted by douchemike on July 14th, 2008 filed in Progressive Metal, Stoner Metal

Taint at Myspace

Taint are a British Stoner band with progressive and epic tendencies despite on average, the songs on this their sophomore album being around the 4 or 5 minute mark. These are songs in which something is always happening and yet the hash fried groove still remains as gloriously delirious trippy as ever. Think members of Mastodon and Baroness smoking top quality weed for twelve hours straight whilst listening to Cathedral, Sleep and ‘Masters of Reality’-era Black Sabbath and you are nearly on top of how splendid this record is.

Lolloping riffs interplay with hillbillies on ganja-style psychedelic guitar leads all the while keeping within an intoxicating almost funky in a Clutch sort-of-way Groove. The groove on this record is immense; the songs change speed, density and direction regularly but each song’s distinct groove remains constant as the centrepiece of each track and indeed Taint’s entire sound. Highlights include the frantic bass solo on ‘Goddamn This City’ and the appearance of Circulus flutist Will Summers on ‘What the Raven Saw’.

The aforementioned track begins as a piece of neo-medieval folk rock, before transforming into an ethereal and haunting piece of Sabbathian hard rock with the final change coming four and a half minutes in when some spiffing surf-cum-stoner guitar leads duel off against Summers Flute in a segment that sounds like Boris dueling with Jethro Tull. Vocalist Jimbob’s intriguing vocal style make these moments even more terrific, with his plaintive barks and croons sounding not like a more impassioned and soulful version of Mastodon’s Brent Hinds. If you like your stoner metal to be of the highest quality and hate the idea of repetition in music then it would be a good idea to check this release out.