Reviews    Thee Plague of Gentlemen - S/T (Tillherte Records)
by Chris Barnes

I got to see Thee Plague of Gentlemen live in October in Texas. They were kind enough to come all the way from Belgium to play one gig. Although the set was cursed with equipment problems, I could tell from the spirit of the band that they were well versed in their bludgeoning craft. Nice blokes too, and singer/guitarist Steve McMillan has the best handlebar mustache in the biz. Maybe the only one too.

Here we have TPOG on CD-R. They bring us four monster slabs and 33 minutes of apocalyptic dirge/doom/death grind. There is nary a bit of groove to be found here, but when they do, as in the breakdown of skull-musher "As Cold as They Come" and the ending part of "Razorpollen", they are infallible. The remainder of their time is spent making damn well sure that you wallow as deep in their sonic mire as you possibly can. Soundwaves weren't meant to go this low. And many a death/doom band could learn a lesson or two from TPOG's use of tempo changes. 3 MPH is good for about 20 minutes tops, then it's time to put some weight on the pedal. They also put to good use a secondary vocalist, so the guttural vocals get changed up a bit. Makes it interesting. Gives Mr. McMillan a break too. Polyps are nasty.

Solid work, lads!!

Read the Hellride Music interview with Thee Plague of Gentlemen.

Listen to As Cold As They Come in RealAudio

Copyright 2002 HellrideMusic.com
Review by Chris Barnes 1/16/01