S.I.M.B. - Monday Superblues (album review)

Cover artwork by Gino Angelov

S.I.M.B. stands for Satan Is My Bitch.  That fact alone should provide a clue as to what you're in for on 'Monday Superblues': heavy stoner metal as hard as fossilized dino bones.  Though this is the Dutch quartet's debut album, released by Ozium Records, they've actually been around for some four or five years.  Evidently, that time was not spent in vain, this is polished stuff and the band sounds pretty tight together.  S.I.M.B. never play too fast nor too slow, in fact the tempo always seems to be held to the exact level of slow building tension the listener is physically able to tolerate before succumbing to the bends.

S.I.M.B. is comprised of four dudes who got together in Amsterdam with a mutual love of all things heavy, all former or current members of such underground bands as Artery, Brothers in Blood and Ebanizm, none of them are native Dutch they are all as they say "far from home".  'Monday Superblues' was produced by Joey Zampella, guitarist of legendary New York Groove Metal band Life of Agony and the reunited Carnivore with Peter Steele.  He brings a crisp, consistent sound to the recording and provides a heavy pedigree not often available for underground bands.

Opening trio, "Monday", "Demon Lover" and "So Heavy, So Slow" sees the band inhale slow, heavy riffs and exhale the air of menace.  They get the tone just right and it's obvious that they're not stumbling onto these 'secrets' accidentally.  This is controlled chaos, just like those original masters of stoner metal, Blue Cheer both preached and practiced.  The band comes on like a clenched fist and just starts hammering away at listeners.

Babbata Kefi's vocal chords have seen one too many double Jacks and two packs of smokes on lonely monday nights but suits the heavy sleaze of the instruments hand in glove.  Such is the price of art.  What you get on this record is bikes, sleaze, sluts, spilled drinks and half finished beer cans with orange cigarette butts floating around in them like pet goldfish swimming in piss.  This isn't music for sober-thinking, casually dressed people who know how to keep a schedule.  This is outlaw music.  Playing the record straight through, the third track "So Heavy, So Slow" should be timed to come on just as the downers kick in.  It's as good a title to describe the record overall as anything else one could dream up.  Oh, S.I.M.B. don't shy away nor are they hamfisted with the raging speed demon moments, see the next track in line "Alive" for evidence of this, it's just that the band kicks back and cruises through their compositions with a casual ease at any tempo.

With producer Joey Z. (front, center)

The track "Satan Is My Bitch" says it all, the eponymous cut, the shortest number on the disc.  It's tough, direct, heavy, riff-laden, a good cruisin' tune.  A mood setter on the way to an all-night rager.  Most of the songs are like that, this one being the most concise of the bunch and sums it all up nicely.

What can one say, this is pretty damn heavy stuff, leaning towards the biker rock end of the heavy metal spectrum.  In fact, 'Monday Superblues' is absolutely tipsy with sex, drugs and rock n roll.  Fuzzy riffs and a survival borne toughness lends the record a swagger and propels it to the status of heavy experience in and of itself.

Highlights include: "Demon Lover" and "Mind of God"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 31:26

Babbata Kefi - vocals
Chico P. Monev - drums
Sven - guitars
Huby Hubenov - bass

From: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Genre: Hard Rock, Stoner Metal, Biker Doom

Reminds me of: Iron Hearse, Mage, Moonless

Release Date: March 25, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Slap on the old leather cut-off vest, hop on the chopper and ride to the grocery store and back.  It doesn't matter where you go or what you do when the ride is that heavy.

Better Review:
Heavy Planet
Ech(((o))) and Dust
Phantasmagoria in Greek
The Soda Shop

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GET IT HERE ON CD