The debut album from brothers, Eric and Jimi Tormey and bassist Joseph Hunt – otherwise known as Gang – is an unrelenting slip into psych, sludge, and doom. 925 Till I Die is an accumulation of Black Sabbath riffs, warbling, lysergic guitar lines and macerating drums; songs open as warning sirens and leave you at the end as the losing side to a boxing match.

Margate’s three-piece have carved a world of their own upon their return to the planet, this time as green beings (you’ll have to flick through their YouTube videos to get the gist of this), it’s a world of ‘M8s’, excessive amounts of the aforementioned green and haircuts that change by the day. 925 Till I Die acts a thumping chapter in their story so far.

Tracks warble between 80s metal, with the Metallica war march of ‘Pearly Noose’, a track that summons a crowd as it enters and thrusts them against concrete walls as it explodes, and sludge-rock, with the Wand sounding ‘Messiah’, a track that recoils and attacks with equal potency whilst always slithering through sections between verse and chorus. The quick-fire ‘You Did It By Accident, In My Brain’, although just a minute long, the squeals of feedback it picks at notch a grueling mark in your own brain, the band showing their best when they glide between sounds, with ‘Skinny Dipper’ displaying this perfectly. Tormey’s haunting vocals wrap around lucid guitar parts and agitated drums, building the track to various points of cathartic release.

The band's enigmatic image, three doppelgängers emulating the original trio of Gang, plays into this slightly ghoulish but humorous image that they continue to toy with. The truly fascinating thing about the band is how they paint a tongue-in-cheek image around themselves, with Gang there is never a sense of aloofness, just flamboyancy that promotes the inclusive and fun nature of their music. This is what generates such an atmosphere at their live shows, where the music and charisma marry.

‘2B Abused’ has been a staple of the band’s set for a while and the album proves that even when on record, they can tailor the track’s combustible energy to the required context with harmonies finding respite, swooning in synchrony through the chorus. The unnerving intro to ‘1, 2, 3, 4. Bomb, You, Me, War’ captures a child’s voice chanting with soaring guitars and organ in the background, rhythmic and hypnotic in its cult-like costume, it sets another haunting image to the band.’Rawboned’ spins out the back of ‘1, 2, 3, 4…’, giving Tormey’s impression of how society has served him, acting almost as an answer to the previous track.

As you hit the tail-end of the album, you hit the volcanic ‘Time’ and the band’s previous single, ‘Dead’, an abrasive alarm thrusts you into the song before Hunt’s rumbling bass undercuts it and the song begins to edge around Jimi’s voice. ‘Dead’ was the intro to the green trio back in October 2016 and is a fitting end to a fantastic debut, regardless of its ironic track-titling.

925 Till I Die is at times exhaustive but it never grows tiresome. Tracks are at times long, but never become repetitive, instead the trio work melody into the most gargantuan of rhythm sounds and guide it carefully through Eric’s gnarling wiry guitar. With the debut album from one of Brighton’s latest and greatest finally in town, following recent supports with the likes of Thee Oh Sees, watch this space as to how they paint their sludgy green up and down Britain’s Isles.

Tom Churchill

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