Muscletusk - Live At The Captain's Rest download free

I've had the opportunity of witnessing the overwhelming sensory explosion of Muscletusk live in their native Edinburgh once before, and am happy to report that this unassuming CDR captures the wailing sprawl of gurgling feedback, drunken percussion and ten-tonne murk with a direct honesty that befits the immediacy and energy of their approach. What's more, nuances of feedback, vocal squeals and and percussive shrapnel are more clearly active in the recorded picture, flecks of shrieking tone that would otherwise be buried in the heaving mass of dense guitar-driven noise at the volume that a live show of their ilk demands. Itchy, restless clatter and scrape blossoms into plumes of beguiling caterwauling guitars, cymbals and sheer abominable noise, perforated wildly by the drumkit's addled and coruscating accompaniment. Chaos is happily managed in the exponential orgiastic improvisation, huge waves of despairing, deep feedback pulse with a damaged intent, whilst tonal buckshot and scrap-metal fly out of the storm adding a razor-sharp edge to the dark cloud brewing beneath. But despite the mass being created Muscletusk aren't prone to wailing on the noise for noise's sake, and know when and how to pull back the reins on the creature and dwell in the damage they've set in motion, at times brooding and heaving at the seams like Black Flag and alluding by the end of the piece to a Swans-style pounding march that completes the gig as succinctly and directly as it began. 7/10 -- Joe Luna (28 January, 2009)