Snail-Terminus

Self-Released/Independent
2012

When I first happened upon Seattle, Washington-based band Snail and saw that a comparison had been made to Alice In Chains well, naturally I suspected that grunge would be in order. Released at the start of May the album had just sat there for awhile (actually, "album" isn't the best word choice as this was simply a download link provided by a friend so there was no physical album to be had) and it was only after a moment of curiosity that I listened to some of the songs. The Alice In Chains comparison is, at best, slight as this is more in line with psychedelic rock/stoner metal. For the sake of clarity the band members themselves list Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet, Sleep, Fu Manchu and the Melvins on their Reverbnation page. You can form your own picture from all of those listed bands, but be assured that this is far from the Seattle grunge that I had anticipated. The band was formed in 1992 by vocalist/guitarist Mark Johnson (who had briefly played bass with The Crucified), bassist Matt Lynch (Plugusher) and drummer Marty Dodson. In 1993 they released their self-titled debut album on Big Deal Records. Snail's second release was a 5-song EP entitled "All Channels Are Open" followed by a four-way split in 1995. After that release Snail disbanded before resurfacing in 2008. Armed with a new guitarist (Eric Clausen) Snail released "Blood" (reviewed by Metal Mark) on Meteorcity Records. "Terminus" marks the band's latest release and my first exposure to their take on psychedelic rock/metal meets stoner/doom metal. This is excellent stuff and well worth a look if your into the any of the bands listed above. This album is also another "pay what you can" download. Granted money is tight for all of us, but at least throw the band a meager dollar or two if you can. Snail seem like the kind of band that creates music for personal gain and nothing more, but even they have to make ends meet so in the spirit of supporting underground metal help out if you can.










http://snailhq.bandcamp.com/album/terminus