Dirty Pagans Throw All Genre Definitions Overboard on ‘The Family’

I don’t think there have ever been so many doom and stoner releases as in recent years. Modern technology is undoubtedly to thank for that. Nowadays you no longer need expensive studio time to record something that sounds professional, a good computer and the right software is sufficient. You also no longer have to experiment days at a time to find that right sound. One YouTube search is usually enough to find out how your favourite band gets their guitar sound.

While this is wonderful, of course, it also generates a tonne of bands that sound exactly like Electric Wizard, Fu Manchu and Kyuss. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, let me get that straight. Some of them are really good and evolve into something bigger. Also, I speak from experience when I say that local bands are a great way to delve into the magical world of doom and stoner. That being said, I’m also very happy with DIRTY PAGANS’ debut record ‘The Family’ (2021), because these Australians deliver something completely different.

The first couple of seconds of “Edge of Glory” made me look around in bewilderment, as to figure out who stepped on Tim “Ripper” Owens’ foot. That had to be the only explanation for that high pitched wail. Luckily, the Ripper didn’t invade my house, but it was vocalist Matty Dee showing what he has in store. The cover turns out to be quite misleading, because “Edge of Glory” is some top notch heavy metal in the vein of 3 Inches of Blood and old Judas Priest.

“Pagan’s Blood” is a more down tempo track, but no less impressive. The track is slow, almost sludgy, but with melodic guitar overlays that would make many an epic doom metal band blush. Dee’s vocals are quite a bit lower here, for which the neighbour’s dog would like to thank him. Just when you’re in the flow of the track, the punching chorus, including almost barking vocals, drops in to put you back where you belong.

While the vocals are a clear selling point on The Family, tracks like “Gypsy’s Breath,” and “Live Forever” give the rest of the band, Gregory 'Francisco’ Challis (guitars), James Russo (bass) and Jarradeesha Taylor (drums), plenty of time to show us what they’ve got. The band moves perfectly between heavy metal and stoner rock, sometimes with Sabbathian flair, sometimes chugging away to let you train your neck muscles. The impressive part is that they manage to put it all in the same song, without it sounding forced at all. On “Searching”, the band even takes this to its extreme, going from stoner rock, to thrash to sludge.

“Sun,” on the other hand, stands out because it’s such a straight-forward hard rock track, complete with sing-along chorus and twin guitar solo. At least, that’s before Dee channels his inner King Diamond in the last minute. The guy’s a good singer, but he really managed to impress me there. “Open Up,” while a solid stoner metal track, feels a bit bland after that. It’s also the only song that doesn’t really stick. “Valhalla” is another track that gets your blood pumping with it’s steamroller drums and epic guitar work, working towards an absolutely crushing finish.

Of course, there’s only one way to start off a track called “The Family,” and that’s with a Charles Manson quote. The track starts off as a solid doom track, but halfway through the track picks up pace and grows about as big as Manson’s ego. With almost Ghost-like flair the final minutes of the record are filled with epic solo’s and vocals, where the only thing missing is a choir to make them even bigger.

In a year where there’s still not much to do and very little to look forward to, The Family is the perfect form of escapism. It’s fun and exciting, and even though it’s stylistically all over the place, it works really well. Dirty Pagans prove that in a world where it’s easier than ever to sound like whoever you want, you can still be unique.