HIGH GRIND - War On Drugs (Review)

Written by: The Administrator

Sometimes, the album cover tells you all you really need to know. And if we're being honest, "sometimes" becomes "frequently" when we're dealing with the comfortably miasmic realm of stoner doom aesthetics.

So. Prior to hitting play, there was no doubt in my mind what War On Drugs by Mexican duo High Grind was going to sound like. Smog-thick riffs. Phlegmy vocals. A little swirling psychedelia. It was frankly quite inevitable that I would enjoy the soundtrack accompanying this weed demon bacta tank imagery.

I'm pleased to report that I do very much enjoy War On Drugs. It does absolutely nothing new, but when it comes to stoner doom, I'm generally quite happy with a band that sticks to the bulletproof established formula. Give me mammothian riffs that lurch about like--to quote Rolling Stone's 1972 review of Black Sabbath's Vol. 4--a "giant prehistoric plant learning how to walk." Give me indistinguishable lyrics via throaty howls wrenched from the sludge. Give me stupored groove and the warm embrace of fuzz. Honestly, every track here is a good example of what High Grind offer, but check out the embedded "La Guerra Contra las Drogas" below for some particularly downtrodden riffage.  

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But if you can believe it, not everything here is necessarily all about the lumbering heft. High Grind find some moments to meander through some more expansive billowing psychedelia. Take the back half of "Abstinencia" or the ambling build of closer "Apocalypweed." The vocals also add some quality emphasis--across the (mini?)album the thick vocals are relatively sparse, but I really like how mighty and muscle-bound they sound. They are buried fairly deep in the mix, which was a smart move. Better to not have the guitar and vocals wrestle for a spot in the limelight when it's abundantly clear from the onset which element will perennially take center stage.

For an album with track titles like "Bonglicious" and "Apocolypweed," this album is a little more conceptual than I first gave it credit for. War On Drugs is thematically centered around the "crude and archaic rhetoric" that informed Calderón's failed war on drugs, and the resulting violence and criminalization of users. From a sonic perspective, this thing is arguably cohesive to a fault, but it's this extra level of intention that helps War on Drugs feel like a statement in a way many overtly weed-centric albums do not. Another point in this album's favor is the concise length, which is a characteristic I very much wish was more common in the world of stoner metal. This thing clocks in somewhere around 33 minutes, and none of the tracks ramble to a point where they feel overly repetitive. 

Yes, High Grind indulge in a sound that intrinsically offers little variation from track to track. But isn't that why we're here? In sum, I sincerely doubt that any fan of stoner doom will have anything less than an enjoyable listening experience. If you're inclined to like a band named High Grind, I recommend checking this one out.

​High Grind - War on Drugs was released March 21st via Smolder Brains Records. Find it here! 

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High Grind can be found:
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