Metal has long been known to be a vicious assault upon the senses. While that hasn’t always been the case for a long time now, there is nothing that can compare to when a band does come around that doesn’t just mean business but intends to leave a lasting mark upon the very earth that they walk upon that a massive performance is in order. Of all the many different styles out there that are fitting for such an event, sludge has to be one of the most unforgiving out there. It’s a tremendous thing when it’s done right with its ferocity and unfettered heaviness of a sort that defines what it means to be uncompromising. Without a shred of hesitation nor a single misstep in sight, Iron Buddha’s rendition of sludge fits that very bill perfectly.

A small offering can still pack a wild punch if it’s put in the right hands and given the right kind of attention that’s needed for such a piece to become all that it can be. In no small way, the hands of Iron Buddha are clearly the right ones with “Raze//Repose” a breed of EP that can easily be overlooked, but to do so would be to miss out on a massive performance that holds nothing back and capitalizes on some of the very best qualities that sludge metal has ever had to offer. Fast, unrelenting, raw, and oppressing to an absolute tee, the four tracks of “Raze//Repose” are nothing to underestimate for not only are they just mere works consisting of explosions driven by the purest form of catharsis, Iron Buddha makes damn sure to make the piece as infectious as possible. The whole of the EP is littered with riffs and hooks that force you to bang your head to the rhythms so viciously that whiplash is guaranteed by the end of the EP with each track presented to us here be it a nearly three-minute offensive that comes for your very soul to leave your body a withered husk to blow away in the wind or a calculated yet no less than deadly visage of unbridled aggression that stretches to almost ten minutes in length where the light of the sun becomes a distant memory.

“Raze//Repose” may not be as heavy or straight-to-the-point in its savagery as contemporary acts like Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, but it would be remiss of any of us to even dare consider Iron Buddha’s performance here as anything less than tantalizing from the start. This is sludge metal as it was meant to be: thick, murderous, and a force that is not to be denied lest its wrath encompass all of creation.

LISTEN to “Raze//Repose” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Iron Buddha on Facebook here.