Sturp - Fumigation of Grain (album review) ★★★☆☆

The Dutch band Sturp tickles the imagination with its slightly weird, but pleasant take on rock and metal music. Electric guitars, banjos and drums don’t quite cover the sound. There is lots of distortion and instrumental music. Gnarly, sharp sounds and raging guitars. This album ‘Fumigation of Grain’ (February 16, 2016) is absolutely mad and it’s made me lift my brows a few times. There is no easing into the opener ‘Round Bits’. Full-blown chaos from the start. It does remind me of Claypool and Primus a bit. Though their sound has yet to be determined, which in my opinion is a good thing.

The band started with one of their projects in 2014 and gave birth to the second album ‘Rapid Germination’ in the same year. With this album ‘Fumigation of Grain’ Sturp literally blows you away with their distinct sound. When listening to the second track ‘Safe Working Load’ which last for eight whole minutes, it takes you a while to fully grasp what Sturp’s music is about. Great guitar play in this song. At times this album almost sounds like a jam session, unorthodox and unprecedented. Still, you can hear this band has its roots firmly planted in metal. There is a pleasant break in the album when we arrive at the track ‘Verges’, which is not as aggressive as the first two tracks. Then ‘Worn Flat’ shakes things up again, which is rhythmically strong.

The song ‘Canoodling’ is one of the more tame tracks and easier on the ears, where the bass dominates in a good way. In ‘Funnel Seek Test’ we find the lost banjo alongside heavy guitar riffs that leave you kind of confused. These surprising combinations of instruments are interesting, to say the least. It can be a shock to the system though. Sturp tones it down a bit with ‘Sort Facility’, the repetition in the song that mends the ears. Again we hit a well-deserved break before crashing into ‘Resurfacing’. Again more steady guitarplay, before the chaos comes back in the remaining songs. By now you are overdosing on nervous metal. This album is quite the ride, intense and unorthodox. Be prepared!

Score: 7.3/10 ★★★☆☆

Tracklist
01. Round Bits
02. Safe Working Load
03. Verges
04. Worn Flat
05. Canoodling
06. Funnel Seek Test
07. Natural Egg Replacer
08. Sort Facility
09. Resurfacing
10. Oven Ready Game
11. Detailed Results
12. Being Left On The Shelf
13. Estimated Time Remaining

More about Sturp
www.pitkings.nl/tag/sturp
www.digidaan.net/sturp/en/
www.facebook.com/sturpNL/
www.sturp.bandcamp.com/