Band:	Huntsmen
Album:	American Scrap
Style:	Sludge metal
Release date:	February 2018

01. Bury Me Deep
02. Pyre
03. Canary King
04. Interlude A - Shipwrecked
05. Atlantic City
06. Interlude B - Insurrection
07. The Barrens
08. The Last President

There's a darkness at the edge of town, coming from the eye of every storm. It's sludge in the USA.

Hailing straight from Chicago, Huntsmen found some strange new sounds to blend into their sludge sound, taking inspiration from their country's monolithic culture, specifically from that blue-collar roots rock style. Thus traces of Springsteen are to be found all around American Scrap, from the performance to the storytelling.

Taking their time, American Scrap's opener sets the Americana tone that lingers on through the second track. Only halfway "Pyre" do Huntsmen overwhelm the sound with thick guitar feedback that still doesn't immediately give back into sludge. All throughout the record, the sludge takes turns from the more intricate and atmospheric to the in-your-face, hard-hitting type, all in all being more reminiscent of Neurosis than some more meat-and-potatoes sludge. While not quite always blending seamlessly, the potential is definitely there for Huntsmen to polish their songwriting even more.

The storytelling is also taking Springsteen influences and making them bleaker, just like the sound. While I didn't dive into every track, the ones that stand out most are "Canary King" and "The Last President", one being about a coal miner's life and the other about a president's last public address during a nuclear holocaust, so yeah, pretty grim stuff. All of these (well, except the last track) are so hard-hitting because of Chris Kang's vocals, hitting both the warm cleans and the vicious roars.

The production is a little rough at places, but that is something not too unexpected for a band's debut full-length. The album isn't overly long, 40 minutes with 5 proper, well-structured songs and some mood-setters. Overall, a really fresh take on sludge, post-, and metal in general. A little rough around the edges, but promising potential to improve on future releases.

Take a trip with the young, the innocent and the enemy of the sun through silver in blood. Ok, enough Springsteen/Neurosis puns.