11. Tigerleech – Bicephalous

One might not normally associate the city of love with the filthy delights of sludge metal, but Paris’ Tigerleech are here to change all that. Offering some of the best progressive stoner rumblings (with post-hardcore undertones) this side of a Boss Keloid bongathon, this is grimy, dense stuff. At their most focused Tigerleech remind me of Red Fang or even some of Mastodon’s recent, doom-laden work. Some of the riffs here – like on album closer ‘The Last Light We Saw’ or the chugging ‘King of White Castle’ – are more than enough for a darn good time in themselves. What has given this album longevity for me, though, has been its exploratory aspects. The frantic ‘Late Regrets’ is a good example: technical, and full of befuddling time changes. Likewise, the conjoined tracks ‘Feeble…’ and ‘…Again’ wander all over the place, whilst always being sure to return back to a lovely extra-detuned (drop B, maybe???) guitar riff. Yummy. When a band gets the mix between prog and hook right it’s always likely to land well with me, and this chunky French beggar fits the bill nicely.