Part Chimp – Thriller (2009) [Rock Action] // Grade: B+

Enter a monolith…  Always a difficult band to classify or even explain, the expansive UK group has flown under the radar for most of this decade, last seeing light with 2005′s fantastic I Am Come. With Thriller, the band delivers once again, only profoundly accenting their engulfing attack with the sort of flavor you get when stewing in your own sludge for a few years.

Thriller delivers harder than ever before on the dense & heavy Sleep & Melvins influenced riffalogy (“Trad”, “Dirty Sun”,  & “Tomorrow Midnite”) alongside the sort of noise riddled assault synonymous with Post-Hardcore stalwarts like Unwound & Quicksand (“FFFFF”, “Tomorrow Midnite” & “Today 3″). Thriller also boldly submerges into a newer melodic dimension that takes the band head-first into some very interesting Post-Gazerish territory, where more so than ever the distortion is it’s own instrument rather than some byproduct of the guitar. Fuzz and feedback are wielded like Conan does his broad sword… swooping strokes accented by calculated stabs. Thriller is a full body immersion whose seductive melodic sustain is all that’s keeping you from being smothered.

I can forgive you if you’ve never heard of Part Chimp before reading this,  but I couldn’t forgive you if as a fan of sludge, Doom, and Post-Hardcore if you didn’t give this album at least one solid spin. Thriller is sort of album you explore not listen to. Trust me you’ll be hooked and soon enjoying the rest of Part Chimp’s small but powerful discography.

- My Pal the Crook