Recently the powers that be at Ripple tasked everyone with writing about the heaviest album we've heard. In my youth I always considered anything labeled heavy metal as heavy, even without ever hearing it. Once I discovered Metallica I thought that was heavy. Then I heard Megadeth. Then a small little "metal" band from Texas called Pantera hit the scene. I thought it couldn't get any heavier. Then I started to open my mind to more music and quickly discovered doom metal.
Right away I was exposed to a plethora of heavy bands. Bands such as Eyehategod and Sunn O))) would pound the hell out of my speakers. I would have to turn off my subwoofer to keep from disturbing the rest of the family. Neither of those bands really held my attention for very long though. One band that did manage to perk and keep my interest though is an East Coast band by the name of Borracho.
It was mid 2011, I had gotten their upcoming album Splitting Sky as a submission for review to The Soda Shop. Right away I was blown away. The album was released to critical acclaim throughout the blogosphere. Blogs such as Heavy Planet, The Obelisk and of course, The Soda Shop were salivating over it. While its not the most heaviest album ever produced in the history of music, it was one of the most heaviest to hold my attention through out the rest of 2011 and continues to do so today. At times it's heavy doom metal infused with some heavy riffs that would make Tommy Iommi blush. Insert a dash of classic rock into the mix and you have yourself an instant classic. Splitting Sky is an album that I'm proud to say gets more play time from me over any album the Black Sabbath ever recorded. Yes, more than Paranoid or Master of Reality.
Since the release of Splitting Sky, Borracho has released 3 7" albums that make great companion pieces to an already great album. If you haven't heard the album yet, fire up the Bandcamp player below. You'll be glad you did. Own a record player? Seek out a vinyl copy. If you like what you hear, the band is working on a follow up which can't get here soon enough.
--Soda Bill