So it seems that since being sent this album to review the world broke down and if you were looking for an album to soundtrack the current global crisis then you couldn’t go far wrong with Compelled To Repeat by Beggar. As well as creating a monumental album Beggar have also released what is probably one of the best debut albums to arrived for a very long time.
The band have taken a sludge sound and modified it by injecting big chunks of death metal and the odd sprinkle of grindcore. Throughout the history of sludge there have been bands who try and push the more extreme elements of the sound whilst others seem to cherish the more blues inspired Black Sabbath devotion. The amazing thing about Compelled to Repeat is that Beggar have embraced both sides and pushed both as far as they can go. What’s more, they’ve made this incredible feat sound totally seamless, resulting in an album that is a physically crushing slab of horrible nihilistic sludge with blues core at its centre. The song craft and musicianship on display is first class and while Beggar may have been around a few years, the fact that this is their first album is quite astonishing. Oh, and the riffs. Compelled to Repeat is filled with more riffs and guitar lines than some bands manage in a lifetime. There is some pure guitar worship on this album but again it never feels self congratulating and is only there to further the particular track.
In all, Compelled to Repeat is an amazing blast of gloriously heavy music from a band who have the potential and the right to be on everyone’s radar and go incredibly far indeed.
Compelled To Repeat is out 3rd April via APF Records and can be purchased here.
Read our interview with Beggar here.
Words: Nathan Tyler
