Band:	Men Eater
Album:	Men Eater
Style:	Sludge metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	December 2023

01. Grail
02. Hermit
03. Multitude
04. Worshipers
05. Mortice
06. Uma Multidão De Pecados
07. Fools
08. Dear Imprudence
09. Remnant
10. Denouement

The men of Men Eater have clearly eaten a lot of men during their time off, as their comeback album Men Eater is a meaty, bulky affair.

It’s seemingly been a turbulent few years for the Portuguese stoner/sludge band; after releasing three albums between 2007 and 2011, the momentum seemed to have come undone. After an initial break-up, the group returned in 2014 to play a show with their original line-up, only to say goodbye once again with a final show two years later. The faintest of murmurings on their social media gradually became louder in the past year, ultimately resulting the announcement of a new self-titled record. Re-energized, Men Eater have evidently poured their hearts into this new release, which features a whole whopping hour of dense heavy music.

In terms of reference points one can use to get a handle of this album, one name that I imagine will come to mind to a few people is Mastodon. That’s not because of any particularly crazy guitar or drum work, as there’s mostly a slower feel throughout Men Eater, whether it be slack or stompy; however, in the album’s more sludgy moments, one can hear hints of Remission’s crunch lurking beneath the surface. Still, one might make this connection partly due to the tone of some of the lower vocals, which at times bear an eerie resemblance to Troy Sanders (considering what a distinctive voice he has, I’m surprised at how often I seem to find myself writing that).

Beyond Mastodon, the band that I most find myself comparing Men Eater to is Druids, particularly on a song like “Dear Imprudence”; while not at the same level of progginess as that band, there is some complexity to the writing here, and the group do find a relative balance between a mostly stoner-based musical core and the dirty heaviness that their sludgier tendencies can offer. I also got some faint hints of Elder, mostly courtesy of the first and last songs. Opening track “Grail”, which for its first half serves up some tasty hench stoner verse riffs underpinned by a dirty bass tone, along with a nice bluesy feel to the chorus, goes in a more delicate direction in the second half. Clean, psychedelic textures with a Western twang offer some lush soul food after the heaviness of the first few minutes; the lengthy closing instrumental “Denouement”, without being quite as dainty, further embraces the relaxed vibes, as warm guitar tones cary pleasant melodies to an unhurried drum accompaniment.

Chilled vibes can also be heard on “Hermit”, which reminds me a bit of early Weedpecker with some of the slacker stoner riffs; however, this track does get heavier later, particularly when the Troy Sanders-style vocals take more of a leading role. Later cuts, including “Multitude” and “Mortice”, maintain a similar pace to the aforementioned songs, but instead deliver a stompier, trudging sludge feel with their heavy riffs. The heaviness on Men Eater is consistently satisfying, but the band do still contrast these sections with some lighter and/or more brooding instrumental bridges as they progress. “Multitude” in particular takes a very nice turn midway through for a lengthy instrumental passage accompanied by faint keyboard tones than imbue a slight eerie prog feel, much like they also do on “Worshipers”.

Men Eater do most things right on this comeback record; on top of the aforementioned strengths, they can also deliver some satisfying riffs of a livelier persuasion on the likes of “Worshipers” and “Fools”. If I were to point out one feature that occasionally underwhelms, there are a few vocal passages here and there, such as the chorus hook in “Multitude” or some melodies in “Fools”, that don’t quite click with me. However, the guest vocalists featured on Men Eater don’t miss at all. “Uma Multidão De Pecados”, the only Portuguese-language song here, has a nice subtle darkness despite its softer instrumentation, which is in part carried by the soulful tone of André Henriques’ soulful singing (but also the creepy strings lurking in the mix).

Perhaps my highlight of Men Eater, however, is “Remnant”. Guest singer Sara Badalo channels a bit of Chelsea Wolfe on a song that has a muted blues feel to it. Well, I say muted; it does eventually build and turn up the volume, with some very satisfying payoff in its latter stages. Perhaps the most dynamic song on a rather dynamic album, “Remnant” is a nice cherry on top of a solid comeback from Men Eater, which I hope will receive a sufficiently enthusiastic response to convince the band to stick around a bit longer this time.