DITCHLIQUOR was formed in Portland, Oregon in 2003 by bassist/vocalist Joe Wickstrom, drummer Shawn Davis and guitarist Evan Enge. The first thing I ever heard of these guys were their excellent contributions to two compilations put together by the stonerrock.com website. "Eve 26" on "Stonerrock.comp volume 3" was a great piece of old school heavy metal and "The Universal Veil" on "Stonerrock.comp volume 4" was an equally great bit of Wino-esque doom. And now their first self-released album is here.

Their bio states that they're influenced by the likes of SWANS, HELIOS CREED, SONIC YOUTH, MOTÖRHEAD and BLUE CHEER. Only these last two names make sense to me when listening to this record. And then only a little. After the minute-long feedback wailing of "Mandrake" gets us in the proper mood we get to the excellent stoner groove of "Morningstar". The fact that Joe Wickstrom's vocals (sounding like Wino in the lower regions and like Chris Cornell in the higher ones) are somewhat drowned in the mix is not really a problem. Actually it adds to the atmosphere. This is followed by the blistering up-tempo rocker "MegaloMotherfucker", which is basically a slightly punkier version of the aforementioned "Eve 26" with different vocal lines. This took some getting used to on my part, simply because I like the original better, but still a kickass tune. "Nothing", sung by guitarist Evan Enge, is one of my favorite tracks because of its great chugging riff and some cool BLACK SABBATH-like bits. BLACK SABBATH comes to mind again in "On The Side Of The Road". This is all foreplay for the best track though, the aforementioned "The Universal Veil". Its eight-and-a-half minutes start off like a SABBATH/KYUSS-like groove-rocker before culminating into some very atmospheric doom like I thought only Wino could make it. Great track!! In fact, it's so great I wish they'd put it at the end. It has ‘climax' written all over it and besides that, now the three tracks that follow it simply don't stand a chance against it, although the groovy psych-rock of "What Time" (sung by drummer Shawn Davis) comes close.

Since the release of this record guitarist Evan Enge has left the band. A shame, because his cool riffs and wails give this album just that little extra. We'll just have to see what DITCHLIQUOR will sound like with his replacement Jim Taylor (of POISON IDEA). Well, whatever happens, this album is a great, raw and primal mixture of stoner, doom, metal and punk. Think equal parts SABBATH, KYUSS, SAINT VITUS and early CORROSION OF CONFORMITY and you'll get the idea.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/ditchliquor

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Megalomotherfucker

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