Posted on: August 5, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

     / 2007 Hydra Head / 8 Tracks / http://www.bigbigbusiness.com / http://www.hydrahead.com /

While I was expecting something either drone-y or otherwise inapproachable, what Big Business do on “Here Come The Waterworks” is create a very sludgy (Alice in Chains) meets trippy (Jane’s Addiction) type of rock cum metal. “Just as the Day was Dawning” is the first track on the disc, and it will bring any listener back to the first few years of the nineties. Along with the sludgy type of sound, Big Business add a very eighties approach of metal to their overall sound. This means that there are decent hints of influences that range from Twisted Sister to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The band has a big sound (thus, their name) and yet do not push individuals away with “Here Come The Waterworks”.  The band kicks it into an even higher gear when it comes to the second half of the track.

This is due to the fact that even despite all the grittiness and roughness that the instruments provide during the track, there is a harmony that persists. While each of the tracks on the album have the same general style, the band is able to create tracks that work to extend the genre constraints to a breaking point. For example, a track like “Shields” has the vocalist take on a Lemmy (Motorhead) type of vocals while the act drops away a lot of the grungy sound for a more pure take on metal. The track may only be three minutes long but Big Business have enough noise coming from a second on this track to fill ten or fifteen of a comparable band’s.

Even if the band goes perilously close to the arrangements of a Deftones (present during “Grounds for Divorce”), there are so many other styles of music present that it is really lost in the shuffle. This may just be the best metal album of the year; the confident arrangements and strong instrumentation present during the album is but one of the reasons that individuals should tune into Big Business. The band may only consist of two members, but it would be hard for four or five members to create the same amount of gut-wrenching intensity that is present during each and every song on “Here Come The Waterworks”. If you as a listener like any brand of metal, there should be something to chew on during this disc. Keep an eye open for this band in the years to come.

Top Tracks: Grounds for Divorce, Start Your Digging

Rating: 8.5/10

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