Having rebuilt their live standing post-reunion, A Horse Called War are unleashing new music upon the world in the form of an aptly equine five track EP, Good For Glue (And Nothing Else). Though you can namecheck Eyehategod and Iron Monkey as major influences on the quartet’s sludge laden music, there is a hint of Converge – namely the Axe to Fall era – in the pace of instrumentation and desperate vocal howling.
Dog is Dead begins proceedings in sterling fashion, with feedback and an extended snare roll leading into a bout of heavy, apoplectic riffing. Elsewhere on Pardon the Pun we find a much more traditionally sludgy sound present and at the fore, with heavily distorted guitars sitting atop a riotous percussive performance.
The whole EP is marvelously consistent with no track needing trimming down or edges shaving off. It’s lean, grimy unpleasantness that you can rely upon APF Records for, and this five track surely sits somewhere in the upper echelons of the label’s canon. There may be a lack of ingenuity on display with influences screaming in your face, but this isn’t factory fodder, it’s one of the better EPs released in a stellar year of music.
The new A Horse Called War EP, Good For Glue (And Nothing Else) is out November 22nd via APF Records.
