Bongzilla - Gateway

Album Review #1:
I love to get stoned – who doesn’t? There’s nothin’ like a good bowl or joint to make a day go by that much better, and there’s nothin’ like listening to music while high off your ass, and I think Bongzilla agree with me 100%. It’s no secret that these boys smoke grass, it shows in their name… song titles and the way the fuckin’ music sounds. I mean, you HAVE to be high to write this shit.

Anyway, behind all the smoke there’s some really good music on “Gateway”. The first thing you hear when you pop this album in is static, then a slow, doomy and dirty-ass riff floats its way out like smoke comin’ out your mouth while taking a hit. The riffs on this album are catchy, doomy and groovy. And all of those riffs can be found on the complete monster of a track “Stone a Pig”. Almost 10 minutes of dirty sludge ecstasy, that’s some shit to get high to.

If you’re lookin’ for some fast songs here, you better snort some white lines and put on “Bonded by Blood” cos “Bongzilla” and “fast” don’t go together. You know all us potheads are slow and lazy. The album ranges from slow to mid-paced, and maybe even a little faster (“Sunshine Green”). The band focuses on slow, crushing riffs that’ll…crush you. The vocals aren’t so bad either, loud dirty sounding black metal-like screeching. Not something I would ever think would sound good when you’re stoned, but shit, Bongzilla proved me wrong.

There are some problems with “Gateway”, like every stoner out there Bongzilla tend to get too slow and sometimes boring. I don’t think you’d notice that while high (which is the way you’re supposed to listen to this) so it doesn’t really matter. The album ain’t too long, only 40-somethin’ minutes, so it’s a nice soundtrack to a 666lb bongsession. Go get your favorite bong, put some ice in the water, fill the bowl up with some Killer Cali (I love living in California), pop in “Gateway”, fire up and enjoy a great high.

Album Review #2:
While some bands pride themselves on re-inventing their sound with each release, there are others that you can always count on to stay the same. On their latest release, Gateway, on Relapse, the beloved Bongzilla continues to concoct ridiculously massive riffs attached to a pro-pot message. Screeching feedback drops into a deep, vicious groove of riffs and vocalist Mike Makela’s wicked yowl is almost completely drowned out by the smashing of drums, driving Bongzilla’s THC-induced sound. With songs like “Greenthumb,” “Sunshine Green,” “666lb. Bongsession,” and “Hashdealer,” this Wisconsin-bred band isn’t bashful about their marijuana love-affair. And while Bongzilla carries their attitude and their drug infatuation upfront, at least they aren’t trying to be a band they aren’t.


Album Review #3:
Throughout my adult life, I've been surrounded by varying degrees of potheads. One of my college roommates was a twice a day smoker who might as well have been the poster child for proving how many brain cells are supposedly killed by pot use. Other friends used it much more recreationally and in a couple cases, were probably better off with using it. Unfortunately, there's a segment of the population who has taken this illicit drug and turned nearly into a religion. To me, nothing is more aggravating to than to be around someone who is entirely fixated on one specific thing, whether it's football, alcohol, radical feminist politics or marijuana. When one's life is entirely consumed by a single product, there's a good chance that person is lacking much needed balance in order to function and not annoy the living hell out of people around them.

Bongzilla is one such example. They are now three releases deep into their marijuana themed career (two full lengths and one EP) and they're obviously quite content to continue with their favorite subject of choice. Sampling various movie quotes throughout the CD, Bongzilla is making no bones about their drug of choice. Unfortunately, their monolithic approach to making music is likely to drive away anyone who hasn't taken at least three major bonghits. Despite my constant proximity to pot over the years, I never did get around to trying it and I'm certainly not going to light up a doobie simply to find out if Gateway improves while under an "enlightened" state of mind. The entire album is a series of meandering Sabbath inspired sludge rock featuring more distortion than anything coming out of the White House these days. The entire length of the CD comes across as one extended jam session, showing very little dynamic shift from song to song. It's quite easy to tune out the little buggers after the first three or four minutes and they're certainly not going to sneak in any surprises anywhere after that. Just like hardcore marijuana advocates, Bongzilla becomes nothing more than a persistant irritant within minutes.

Perhaps if you like a dingy, heavy, muck-filled record that you don't actually need to pay attention to, Gateway will prove worth digging up. But as for me, Bongzilla reminds me far too much of those wretched middle aged alcoholic men who used to sit at my bar all afternoon, talking in great lengths about booze. I quit that job. Now I'm going to quit listening to this lousy CD.

Artist Review:
Bongzilla. What a name for a band. I stumbled upon these fellas pretty much due to a random recommendation on the internet. Judging from the title of their albums, this band seems to be chronically obsessed with the whole stoner thing and sweet Mary J. I've not heard anything else from Bongzilla, but could imagine that they've had a pretty consistent career, for good and for worse.

First of all, this album would deserve a decent top mark if it was judged on its musical merits alone. For a stoner record, it's one hell of a piece of sludge. Riffage is just absolutely spaced out and groovy, making up nicely for brutal vocals that really sound like the singer had been spending time with the bong. This is not exactly the most original stoner record or band. They rely very deeply on the standard Sabbath-Iommi-rip-off with maybe a tinge of blues to give a bit mellow edge to their onslaught. Yet musically, this is one of the strongest stoner/sludge albums I've come across.

But if you ask me, all this flies straight out of the window when you grab the album, look at the cover and the lyrics. Although Gateway shares a lot of things with other stoner metal albums, it is just so ludicrously over the top that I very much fear that the fellas in Bongzilla might not be joking after all. You've got a devil smoking weed in the cover. Then there are song titles like Greenthumb, 666 lb. Bongsession (an instrumental that pretty much is what is says) or Hashdealer. The lyrics talk about...weed. The message Bongzilla is putting through is such an obsessed praise for weed that it pretty much kills the charm of the album.

In defense you could say that when Electric Wizard did Dopethrone, they also had this horned guy smoking a pipe. Electric Wizard wasn't too subtle about their choice of herb either. The thing is that whereas Dopethrone is a stoner/doom monument, an defining album as such, Gateway is merely one among the dozens. Bongzilla does their thing good, but have nothing new to give musically, and the ridicilous imagery simply works against them.



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