Üga Büga’s got something. We can’t quite put our finger on it but it’s there. And in this case, that “there” can be pinpointed directly to the Charlotesville, VA’s debut full-length called Year Of The Hog which is just about ready for all to hear (In fact, we’d gather by the time this piece reaches your eyes, it’ll be here).
Believer it or not, Year Of The Hog is also the 2nd concept album releasing on July 19th (Well, there could be more but we’re currently concerned with just the ones we were pitched and are reviewing) with this one focusing on a mythos-soaked post-apocalyptic world with Boar Men (Hence Year Of The Hog) and lyrical content drawing from Dragonball Z, Lord Of The Rings, and Bolt Thrower. Intrigued? We know we are!
But what’s it sound like?!?!? Big, bad, ugly RAWK that’s what! Sure you could go to the Mastodon’s and Baroness’ as an easy compare but we’d like to see those two and raise you Horndal and a Corrosion Of Conformity. It’s Sludge Rawk with something to say and a lumbering behemoth of soulful riffs. It’s Üga Büga!
“Righteous Man” starts it off and we’re not going to begin to tell you the meaning behind the story here but we will say that the track owns. Slaps? Hypes? Is that what the kids say? It’s real good, okay? It’s a gargantuan grinder that’s got all the riffs and perfectly punctuated percussive pummels with growls from Calloway Jones sounding like an unhinged Mountain Man (Or maybe that’s the voice of the “Boar Men”?) as “Rape Of The Poor” sashays in next for a swagger-filled raucous romp.
“Skingrafter” is an epic beastie just three songs in with Jones’ clean croon taking center stage as bassist Niko Cvetanovich and drummer Jimmy Czywczynski lock in for a bodacious battle with Jones’ guitar stylings and then “Eye Of The Storm” is similarly epic with shimmering riffage and a shining rhythm section.
“Change My Name” sees the Üga Büga train depart the station at a feverish pace with Jones switching between vocal styles as a call and response and Czywczynski absolutely crushing the drum kit, “Mockingbird” is a sort of comedown following blast after loud blast of the sonic slaying that’s happened up until now, and “Supreme Truth” is tonally different yet flows perfectly out of “Mockingbird” on the way to the end. And that big baddie of an ending comes in the form of the Kaiju-like stomp of the title track which builds nicely by throwing out all the Sludge Rawk vibes for a solid almost four minutes before Jones even opens up that maw which proves to be the final piece of the puzzle in this dynamite debut record.
Year Of The Hog descends on July 19th. You can get your copy by heading here or here and for the latest from Üga Büga, head to the socials by clicking here or here.