IRON MONKEY - Spleen & Goad
Relapse Records
OK so who here remembers IRON MONKEY? I'd probably be looking at the hand raised by some guy in the back wearing a CHAOS UK shirt. But actually I have some friends who were in a local doom metal band who really liked IRON MONKEY. They kind of were influenced by em a little. But for those of you who don't know this band then I'll explain.
IRON MONKEY came onto the scene back in the late 1990's. They were an English sludgey doom act who took the US version of the genre style and had it crawled through the English underground hardcore/punk scene. They put out two killer albums on Earache Records. Those being their self titled debut full length in 1997 and the follow-up Our Problem in 1998. Yeah you need to get those releases.
Anyways they continued in 1999 with a few short form releases but then tragedy struck when their singer, Johnny Morrow, passed away. So that was pretty much the end of IRON MONKEY. But in 2017 the band came back as a three piece act with guitarist Jim Rushby taking over on vocals. That resulted in the album 9-13 which I was not a fan of. But I might have to come back to for an obvious reason. This new one kicks ass.
It's 2024 and IRON MONKEY are back still as a three piece with Jim Rushby still on vocals and guitar. Plus there's Steve Watson on bass now and new drummer Steve Mellor. So the difference now is that back in 2017 it came off as OK we're IRON MONKEY lets put an album. While now it's more like hey we're IRON MONKEY and lets put out a great album befit of our legacy.
And that's what Spleen & Goad is all about. This is a seething freak show of filthy riffs that crackle with electric sparks. You've got drunken lead guitar solos. The bass is manacle and thundering. And the drum work just falls into place. Opener "Misanthropizer" is a head splinter. And Rushby's vocals come off as a drunk punk doing his best. Hell yeah what more could you want. OK bang your fuckin head to "Concrete Shock". Hell all nine tracks on here are awesome.
LISTEN HERE:
https://ironmonkey.bandcamp.com/album/spleen-goad
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