Taint - Secrets and Lies Review
by Mark Hensch
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Secrets and Lies is an apt title for an album like this. Taint's excitingly unusual brand of sludge is extremely deceptive. The reason for this is all the elements at play---grimy sludge, hazy stoner metal, textured noise, ripping rock, mathematical funk, and soothing atmospheric metal all contribute towards the Taint template. With this in mind, hearing an album this seamless inspires feelings of falsehood. How can something so diverse be so fundamentally good?
The answer lies in Taint's unorthodox history. Formed in 1994, the Cardiff, Wales power trio patiently waited till 2005---ELEVEN YEARS mind you---for the release of their first full length album. When said album---The Ruin of Nova Roma---dropped, music fans having the fortune of hearing it were blown away by the band's well-fleshed out, unique sound. Practice truly does make perfect.
That sound is continued here on 2007's Secrets and Lies. The album is a ferocious mix of cascading mud, fluid dynamics, and tripped-out magic. Imagine a rave with Mastodon, Helmet, Motorhead, Neurosis, and ISIS in attendance, and one would almost be there.
The key word there is almost. These songs are not the kind of music which lends itself to easy categorization. Opener "Hex Breaker," for example, slams right off the bat with a Motorhead riff before shifting gears into a stoned sludge anthem. The whole thing conjures up the possibility of a Quicksand jam with Mastodon, and yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.
Later tunes are every bit as simultaneously hypnotic and raw. "Born Again Nihilist" is perhaps the album's strongest cut, floating away with churning turmoil and angular Helmet riffs weighed down by the crushing force of true heavy metal.
"The Idealist" careens like a noise rock freakout before busting out juicy riffs that would fit any band from the 1990s stoner rock generation. Even better than this, though, is the rambunctious breakdown the likes of which will have metalheads everywhere banging heads, snapping fingers, and clapping hands in wild ecstasy.
"What the Crow Saw," meanwhile, is a real curveball. Put bluntly, it sounds like Jethro Tull with balls. Picture a tribal sludge anthem replete with whimsical flute melodies devolving into a catchy guitar shredding if that does not ring any bells.
"Mass Appeal Sadness," finally is a sprawling epic mixing cyclopean psychedelics with barnstorming chords and tricky dynamics, just the kind of bait-and-switch finish an album as nuanced as this needs for an ending.
All-in-all, this is an album as heated as the sun and as all-encompassing in scope. No lies here---I am a devout Taint addict after this, and if anyone grants Secrets and Lies a sporting chance, my guess is they will be too.Taint's Secrets and Lies 1. Hex Breaker
2. Corpse of Love
3. Barnstorm Zombie Revival
4. Born Again Nihilist
5. The Idealist
6. Goddamn This City
7. What the Crow Saw
8. Triumvirate
9. Mass Appeal Sadness (with hidden track)
CD Info and Links
Taint - Secrets and Lies Rating:9.0
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