Monday 31 August 2015

Judd Madden - Waterfall II (Album Review)


Release date: August 29th 2015. Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Waterfall II: Tracklisting

1.Trickles 04:09
2.Flow 06:17
3.Waterfall 11:53
4.River 12:36
5.Mouth 02:50
6.Ocean 16:00
7.Clouds, Rain 22:00

Band Members:

Judd Madden - Everything

Vocals on Trickles: Nicole W.
Vocals on River: Anthony Von Grimm from Yanomamo

Review:

If you haven't heard of Judd Madden yet, then here's your chance. Judd Madden is one of the finest Sludge/Doom/Post-Metal/Stoner Metal One-Man Bands currently out there. He's released a string of albums that have been acclaimed by fans and critics alike. I've been a fan of Judd for almost 5 years now ever since he released his debut album – Waterfall.

Judd's music is a blend of Sludge, Post-Metal, Doom, Drone, Desert Rock, Stoner Metal and even Fuzz. Very hard to describe at times but highly addictive. It looks like Judd has gone back to the beginning of his musical career and created a new version of his debut album Waterfall with Waterfall II.

Judd has changed a lot of things on this version of Waterfall. He's even added vocals on a couple of tracks. This version is more stripped back compared to the original though it's still has it's fair share of heavy doomy sludge metal riffs. Judd never forgets to bring the noise on his albums. He's a genius when it comes to creating different atmospheres on each individual song.

The epic tracks such as: Waterfall, River, Ocean and Clouds Rain is where Judd always excels as he has more time to explore different noises and sounds before unleashing a powerful destructive riff. If you're a fan of ISIS, Neurosis, Russian Circles, OM, Earth and Pelican then you will enjoy Judd's music immensely.

Waterfalls II is the perfect example to get yourself acquainted with Judd's music. Just check out all of his albums as they're all available on BandCamp Buy now. Word of warning though, they're all highly addictive as you'll be listening to Judd's music for days.

Back to Waterfall II. To be fair I still prefer the original version of Waterfall. Though that doesn't mean I don't like this album. Far from it. I love the experimentation of it all compared to the original and I applaud Judd for going back to where it all started and create a different vision to the original.

Do yourself a favour, check out Waterfall II now as it's another brilliant album from the best One-Man Band currently out there.

Words by Steve Howe

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