Buzzherd and Pale Horseman Venture into Murky Depths on Fierce New Split

Here’s an album that’s well-suited to the cold wave that many of us are starting to taste as October marches to an end, leaving us with piles and piles of leaves or needles to rake. Both hail from the frost belt, BUZZHERD from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and PALE HORSEMAN from Chicago, Illinois. Both have been around about as long as this publication, as a matter of fact. One band is among the more elusive in the stoner-doom universe, the other prolific with a whopping handful of albums.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Buzzherd this riled up before. Get ready to fuck shit up while listening to the A-side. Unless you’re one of those people who likes good walking music, then you can appreciate the music’s idiosyncrasies as you improve your cardiovascular health. The interplay of riff with rhythm really is something to behold, a weave of heavy influences from thrash to death, groove to extreme.

“PxBxPxTxBx” calls to mind early Mudvayne, with a propensity for frequent tempo changes, flirtations with atonality, and absolutely ruthless verses. “Menstrualcity” is frightening and ravenous. “Leave a Little Room for Jesus” has the band grinding their heels into the earth while fire and brimstone rains down from On High. Guitar licks scrape at those tickly places in your eardrums during “MoufTrix,” while “Pinworm Quinceanera” features a rapid-fire drum beat that you’ll feel right down in your gut. Those damning final minutes are not to be missed.

On the flip side, we’ve got Pale Horseman poised to raise havoc in the Windy City. Their sound is epic in its own sludgy way, taking doom forms and tricking them out with a sludge, death, and progressive metal edge. The band is like a classic car suped up under the hood with way too much horsepower to be street legal. You’d have to visit the Domkraft/Slomatics split from earlier in the year to find music this volatile or the output of Serpentine Path for a sound as densely dark and poignantly sorrowful.

There’s nothing stodgy about these songs, either. “Grigori” presents as restless and stubborn, with vocals that both soar and roar, riffage touched by mystery and tragedy, and a rhythm section that is unrelenting. “Exile” is a brooding, jet-black storm cloud. “Release the pestilence…ravage humanity” it chimes. “Orisons” goes a shade darker and is a slow-churning whirlpool of bass, drums, and crunchy guitars.

“These chains will fall” declares “Legions,” a terrifically spirited song I’ll be counting among my playlist favorites in the future. Bonus track “Vimanas” features guest vocals from Suzi Uzi of Chicago’s Black Road, and the harmonies between she and Pale Horseman singers Andre Almaraz and Eric Ondo venture into Alice in Chains territory by the song’s dank conclusion.

It’s been almost a decade since I started writing for Doomed & Stoned and it’s been a real delight for me to watch heavy music flourish underground as a real cultural phenomenon, evolving into so many brilliant variations independent of the machinations of the big music industry. Fittingly, ‘Split’ (2022) will be an independent release.

Buzzherd’s side was recorded, mixed, and mastered by John Rupp at Soundmine Recording Studio in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, who’s also done work with Ghost and Gojira. Pale Horseman was committed to the capable hands of sound engineer Pete Grossman of Bricktop Studio in Chicago, who is guitarist in the band High Priest. Justin Broderick from the iconic band Godflesh hones his mastering expertise via Avalanche Studios to bring out the unique dimensional colors of each of the B-side tracks.

Buzzherd and Pale Horseman’s Split emerges Friday, October 28th in digital format and vinyl orders ship out October 31st (pre-order here or here).

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

The brutal Bethlehem, PA, based Buzzherd and Chicago sludge lords Pale Horseman are preparing to release the new album Split celebrating a wealth of fierce, heavy music.

Emerging in the early 2010s with a sludgy/doomy sound, the Buzzherd have evolved to create a death and sludge hybrid, with a dose of grind. During their career, the outfit have performed with the likes of Eyehategod, Today Is The Day, Hooded Menace, and Secret Cutter. With six full-length releases under their belts, Pale Horseman have also shared stages with the likes of Eyehategod, Crowbar, Bongripper, and Coroner, and performed at several festivals including Doomed & Stoned Festival, Beard Metal Fest and Full Terror Assault.

Initiating proceedings with an aggressive intensity, Buzzherd’s “PxBxPxTxBx” is fuelled by groove rhythms, thundering percussion and guttural vocals, while “Leave a Little Room for Jesus” delivers driving guitar riffs and fast-moving motifs. The quartet unleash a fury of heavy atrocities across the first half of the album. Deliciously distorted guitar tones carry a razor sharp edge, and the vocal delivery appears to rise from the depths as the bass and drums ground deeper into the earth.

Honing a nightmarish atmosphere, Buzzherd unleashes an unceasing assault on the senses. Pale Horseman emerges out of the gloom with an advancing eerie fuzz inflamed sound through “Grigori”. Creating a striking mood through dynamic guitars, compelling vocals and ferocious percussion, “Exile” is a poignant exploration of a dark subject, aptly conveyed through the intense instrumentation. Pale Horseman’s bonus track “Vimanas” ventures through a smorgasbord of instrumental and vocal harmonies that produces an immersive effect.

Split combines the sheer anguish from Buzzherd with the moody experimentation from Pale Horseman. The new album is filled with colossal sounds from both bands as they venture unafraid into the murky depths. Hard-hitting and unforgiving, Split is a powerful offering.