Posts Tagged ‘savage’

Human Worth are proud to present the punishing new album Work Yourself to the Bone from south-coast sludgers Black Groove, available to pre-order now with a portion of all profits donated to charity.

Savage, gnarly, brutal and chaotic… These words feel lightweight when it comes to describing the bludgeoning that one experiences when listening to Black Groove, or attending one of their visceral live shows. Crawling out of the darkest crevice of East Sussex coastal town Eastbourne, this gruesome sludge metal quartet have made a real name for themselves across the South of England. Known as one of the heaviest bands in the UK today, Black Groove have been packing small venues, drawing in more and more fans of disgustingly loud, heavy music through word of mouth.

Now Black Groove are ready to channel that vicious intensity and colossal heaviness into their forthcoming second album Work Yourself To The Bone, to be released on the hellish Friday the 13th of November on Vinyl, CD and Streaming via independent Brighton based label Human Worth (home to IAN, Remote Viewing, Pleb and more). A portion of Human Worth’s profits from the sales of Work Yourself To The Bone will be donated to registered UK charity Survivors’ Network, supporting survivors of sexual violence and abuse across Sussex.

Work Yourself To The Bone follows Black Groove’s impressive and raw 2024 debut album Low End Scum. The band recorded Work Yourself To The Bone live with producer and engineer Matt Pugh at Brighton Electric, who has previously recorded like-minded peers Believe In Nothing and Pascagoula. Pugh had already been a regular attendee of Black Groove in concert, and so was able to find that balance between capturing the wild energy of their live shows, whilst pushing their sound forwards and tightening the screws. “The results of working with Matt have been massive for us,” confirms bassist and vocalist Gareth Hellings; “To have a record that really represents the live sound and vibe of the band is what we wanted to achieve." Black Groove have made a conscious shift in their songwriting and lyrical topics too. "We were a lot more doomy, writing songs about shroom demons and swamp giants and whatnot," admits Hellings cheekily, "Then we made a conscious decision to write songs that were more real and relatable to us, and society as a whole.”

Black Groove will embark on a UK tour from November 13th to coincide with the release of the album. The sludge metal quartet have performed with the likes of EyeHateGod, Bongzilla, Goatwhore, Conan, Mastiff, Kulk, Sea Bastard, Believe In Nothing, Wode, Moloch and plenty more. Black Groove have also performed at key festivals and all-dayers, including Desertfest, Cosmic Vibration and Masters Of The Riff. The band hope the release of Work Yourself To The Bone will allow them to play more extensive tours, get over to Europe and make their mark at even more metal festivals.

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Floodlit Recordings – 29th August 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Having discovered Swans in my teens – it was the late 80s and a friend introduced me to their most recent album, Children of God, which swiftly led me, via weekends spent at record fairs, to Cop, whenever I’m forewarned that a new release is ‘heavy’, I invariably find myself thinking ‘really? How heavy? Bring it on!’

I read – am forewarned – that Trudger’s ‘new album Void Quest… released on August 29th through Floodlit Recordings, a new label venture from guitarist of Pijn and Leeched… [is]

absolutely savage’. I saw Pijn live a few years ago and they slayed, so I consider this a positive in advance. And there’s no question that Void Quest is something of a monster. Arriving a full eleven years on from their debut, it’s as if they’ve distilled all the rage and festering fury of a decade into the nine songs on offer here.

The first track, ‘Merciless Sabre’ is fast and furious, but arrives with a surplus of fast licks and an element of black metal fretwankery that, in my ears, diminishes its weight despite the rampant, rabid ravings of the vocals, the tempestuous blast of the instruments combined to create a thunderous wall of noise.

Things settle to a more organised shape with ‘Occupied Frequency’, where math and metal merge. It seems as if they flung everything into the blender to grab the attention at the start and possibly overdid it, as things aren’t quite as wildly ostentatious thereafter. Sure, the guitar work is fast and furious, and it’s still showy and perhaps a bit over-the-top, but they layer down some magnificent textures and judicious detail amidst the relentless sonic assault, the eardrum-bursting blast.

‘God Rest’ is slower, heavier, and utterly devastating in its driving density. ‘Battle Hardened’ is simply out-and-out brutal, a song that slays all comers. Think you’re hard? Wait for this. This is shit that will slice your head off and ruin your internal organs.

Void Quest is heavy, but what makes it really heavy is its relentlessness. Thirty-five minutes or so of blasting ferocious noise, it leaves you feeling like you’ve just been given a good kicking. I wouldn’t recommend taking a kicking, but I would recommend this.

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