Blood Red Water - All the Ills of Mankind (2013)

In a world mostly filled with harry odd looking dudes as drummers, today we have Italy’s Blood Red Water and their sexy female drummer Fiorica Gasparini. Delivering five tracks of gut-wrenching Sludge Metal on “All the Ills of Mankind”, this band rolls punishing riffs since the first minute and never let’s go.

Opening with the heavy as fuck “A Ride In The Funhouse”, we are left with very slow and devastating Sludge riffs that will appease any connoisseur of the genre. The vocals are slurry and have a certain Motörhead/Southern snarl to them, nicely complementing the music. The bass guitar is quite present on “Megalophobia” as the band switches into more punishing riffs and all out headbanging brilliance.

As the album progresses, the drumming nicely keep things going with very familiar patterns and allows the band to have a very typical sound on “The Outstanding Loss”. By the time we reach “Bad Trip In A Toxic Mind” if you are not too used to linear Sludge bands, you will start getting a bit antsy since there isn’t any much difference between the first and the last songs. Closing with the best: “Thundersnow In Venice”, the band goes down into the dark alleys of this city and digs deep for the thick and heavy sound presented.

As a whole, “All the Ills of Mankind” delivers nearly 30 minutes of crushing riffs, a punishing bass guitar, and very tight and well-spaced drums. The vocals put things nicely together but the band could fare well as an instrumental outfit if they wanted to go for it. Any Sludge/Stoner Metal fan that is looking for upcoming bands should not miss the opportunity of checking these guys out.

Label: Self-Released

Release: September 9th, 2013

Genre: Sludge Metal

Country: Italy