CROP ~ S.S.R.I. ..... review

Desert Psychlist has to hold our hands up and admit to not being aware of the existence of CROP, Marc Phillips (vocals); Zach Hunter (guitar); Braun Dabney (bass), and Andrew Beauvier (drums), until the bands latest album "S.S.R.I." landed on our desk a few days ago. How this band got by us is still a mystery, especially since they tick all the musical boxes we love like caustic riffage, thunderous sludgy grooves and forceful gritty vocals but we've found them now and we are not about to let anything they put out in the future get by us again. 

CROP's "S.S.R.I." is far from an easy listening experience, listeners should brace themselves mentally and physically before taking this monster on. Even "Flatline," the album's brief, droning instrumental intro, feels like an assault on the senses. If "Flatline" doesn’t have you fleeing in auditory distress, the next track, "Formaldehyde," most certainly will, the song bursts out of the traps with such snarling ferocity it'll have you taking a step back. Here we find Phillips screaming of "betrayal" over a backdrop of gnarled, noisy metal that could be described as sludgy but feels so much nastier. It has to be said that there are brief moments of respite to be found here, like when the groove shifts into more psychedelic rock territories where we find Phillips delivering his vocals slightly more subdued (if that's the right word), but those passages aside the vibe here is mostly full on and feral  Next comes "Goddamn," a doom-laden behemoth with gritty, caustic vocals wrapped in thick reverberating riffage driven by growling basslines and thunderous drums, if you're not standing awestruck and soundlessly mouthing its title when this one finally rolls around to its close then you just haven’t been listening properly.. Fourth number "10-56" sees guitarist Hunter, bassist Dabney and drummer Beauvier jamming a deliciously raucous sludgy stoner metal groove, interrupted by a brief lysergic interlude,  over which Phillips tells us he's "sick and tired of being sick and tired" in a voice that seems constantly on the verge of cracking. Every rock or metal band hailing from the southern states of America has to have at least one torch-like song in their locker and "Alone" is CROP's, although in CROP's case it is more a burning brand than an actual torch. Phillip's vocal here is his best so far, gritty and gruff but full of emotion, emotion that is also reflected in Hunter's superb guitar contributions which weave swirling lead and crunching chords around some truly outstanding bass and drum work from Dabney and Beauvier. The instrumental "Breathe" follows and although only just over one minute long comes across like something Ennio Morricone might have penned for a Sergio Leone movie... had that movie been a western horror set in the depths of space. Doom is the primary force behind final song "Break" but its a doom like no other doom that has came before it or is likely to follow, this is doom served up with side orders of southern hardcore and stoner-metal with dark thrumming riffage and thunderous rhythms bookending a fleeting but compelling section of dank ambience topped off with vocals that go from slurred and sneery to angsty and harsh, a song that is loud, mostly gnarly and utterly brilliant throughout! 

Their are times while listening to CROP's "S.S.R.I." when you think that things could not  possibly get any more forceful or gnarly... and then they DO! There are also times on this album where the band wrap you up in warm blankets of unexpected languid ambience, although admittedly those moments are few and far between. "S.S.R.I." is a super heavy if a decidedly schizophrenic release that should come with its own health warning, music this loud, this intense, this dangerous cannot be good for you, but then don't they say that about all the best things in life.

Check it out .... 
 

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