Hot damn! Are you looking for some doom and gloom to kickstart your 2015? Do you long for the days of Seattle grunge, especially the heavy underbelly? And more importantly, do you miss Tad Doyle? If you answered “Heck yes!” to any of those questions then you are in luck because Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth gives you all that and more.
I remember seeing Tad back in 1994 opening for Soundgarden and never in a million years would I have guessed that vocalist Tad Doyle was capable of something like Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth. Sure, Tad was fucking heavy even back then but to hear Mr. Doyle on a track like “Empires of the Dust” (Which shares more DNA with Type O Negative and Neurosis than Nirvana) on Brothers… and consider he was once spouting grunge anthems like “Grease Box”? Not possible.
But I digress.
Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth is the kind of goth-y Sabbath-ian dirge rock that is sorely needed today. From the instant “Lava” comes tumbling down from up high with squealing guitars, Dave French’s staccato drum fills, and Peggy Doyle’s ominous low end, the mood is instantly set and all preconceived notions of this sounding like Tad 2.0 are obliterated. Tad himself sounds like a veritable beast at the microphone conjuring an indistinguishable throaty growl on “Empires…” and then shifting to a pained scream on “Unnamed”.
French, meanwhile, propels each track to new levels with thunderous toms and crashing cymbals as heard on “La Mano Pederosa”. “I Am” is where it all comes together, though. Essentially “Beauty & The Beast” in song form, the exquisite drone leading up to the brutality focuses on Tad and French’s churning riffs while Peggy Doyle’s bass hums underneath. If you’re looking for a song to epitomize what BOTSC is all about then this is it.
Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth is out through Neurot Recordings on February 17th. Pre-order yours here.