My first encounter with Chicago based band Drug Honkey was with their 2008 Death Dub album and I certainly liked what I heard finding it uncomfortable listening, quite filthy and experimental and also unique. Silence until an email turned up saying that the band had their new album ‘Ghost In The Fire’ all ready to pollute mankind via Diabolical Conquest Records only to find that on the eve of release the label had unceremoniously folded causing a void for the band and an album with no home. I am guessing we can only call this a self released album now and one looking for label interest.* It damn well deserves some too as it is bloody good and if I had a label of my own…. yep I have said that too many times but I would indeed release this.

Not that it will make anybody rich I hasten to add as ‘Ghost In The Fire’ is not a nice listening experience in the slightest. Musically it staggers and lurches with an industrial slow brooding mindset about it. Instruments are not so much played as wrung out and tortured to give us some strange tones and warped noises. Similarly vocalist Honkey Head does not sing but gibbers and splurges his parts with a possessed and demonic delivery, it is completely unnatural and alien and it works very well whilst chilling to the bone. I did previously mention the sort of sound that came from the UK squat punk scene on the last album and cited the likes of bands that I would have been very surprised for a group fromChicagoto encounter such as 2000DS, and The O’Roonies . Again I have that feeling from this album and others too. There are moments that remind of Godflesh and some back masked vocals that hit me like Psychic TV at their most obtuse and unmusical. It is all very much dressed up in a style that is quite foul and filthy, somewhat repetitive and downright nasty. The slab like ‘Weight Of The World’ being a case in point, a track very difficult to categorize but one that like a lump of unseen mould on a slice of bread, leaves you with a foul taste that you just cannot get rid of.

In Black Robe is like a Satanic Mass and the sludge laden down tempo doom that is slowly throttled out the instruments begs you to worship it. I have been avoiding the obvious comparisons saying that this is the musical equivalent of taking such and such a drug but if that is what you are looking for you will no doubt discover it on songs such as Dead Days (Heroin III) as it intravenously hits you and you slide into numbness with the track. If it’s a place you like finding yourself in then good luck but for me the music takes me to such depths quite admirably on its own thank you very much.

Sending you into the very mouth of madness over 51 minutes I think it is fair to say you probably have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to this. Surprisingly it is quite calming at times and allows you to simply drift along with it over songs such as ‘Out Of My Mind,’ but then again saying that perhaps I am out of mine as it also could have you wanting to jump through the nearest window to escape it. ‘Twitcher’ does slightly change things and it strikes as a dub version of the band with some nice speaker shaking slow bass booming forth and making you do just as described and twitch back into life again. Last track Saturate / Annihilate drops us back in hell with solid fuzzy bass grooves and echo reverb gibbering vocals with some odd sound effects flung into the mix. It kind of makes you realize you have been in a bit of a dream state for the last few tracks but now you are awake and the full scope of reality and all the hideousness that goes with it are back and making you want to desperately leave it all behind again.

I have thought carefully about the mark here and given it such a high one due to the fact that this is so unique and challenging and also as it is very clever at putting you in a place if you are prepared to venture there. If you are still not convinced the fact that the group have recently played home shows with Krieg and Nachtmystium should certainly make you want to check them out.

(8/10 Pete Woods)

http://www.facebook.com/drughonkey   

* Both label and band have been in touch since this review was written to confirm that Diabolical Conquest are now back as both label and webzine and had fully fulfilled all commitments to the band before previously folding up.

Here’s to them working together on the next release!