Review IRON MONKEY ‘Spleen & Goad’

‘Spleen & Goad’ is only the fourth album from Iron Monkey. The band, which appeared on the radar with their self-titled debut album in 1997, had a second record ‘Our Problem’ at the launched in their first phase before the split in 1999 sealed their temporary end.

In 2016, however, the guys found common ground again. Original members J. Rushby and S. Watson joined forces with drummer Brigga and released an unforeseeable record in 2017. Another seven years passed before fans of the British sludge combo are able to enjoy another album with ‘Spleen & God’.

Iron Monkey stay true to their heavy sludge sound and there are nine songs that burst out of the speakers. The doom roots are hereby just as important as the nagging screams of frontman Jim Rushby. It is best to listen to songs like the intense ‘The Gurges’. Slow and viscous like lava and at the same time with destructive brute force, the song rolls into the listener’s subconscious and leaves its mark there.

Things get interesting with the last song. ‘O.D. Rose’ is more like a sound collage with distorted effects and one wonders how this number came about. However, as the record delivers plenty of quantity with its 54 minute running time, the little intermezzo at the end is tolerable and it is songs like the anarchic ‘Concrete Shock’ that make ‘Spleen & Goad’ a pretty good album.