When I was out on tour with the guys from Birdflesh and the owner of Bones Brigade Records, I made an important discovery in the doom/stoner scene. The French band Hangman’s Chair made such a great impression on me, that I decided to review their latest album (which dates back to last year), which is also their debut full length. Entitled (A Lament For…) The Addicts, get ready for a drug-soaked stoner experience!

 

It is easy to hear where this band draws most of its influence from, namely the great

Alice in Chains. It’s like they’ve taken a bunch of their riffs and slowed it down a bit, and made them a bit heavier of course. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad thing at all! It’s fucking great! The scariest thing about this record is how closely vocalist Keo Nackphouminh approaches the actual sound of the late Layne Staley, whom I hold highly in regard. It’s like Layne is back from the dead to haunt us once more with tales of depression and drug frenzies.

 

The sound on (A Lament For…) The Addicts is nice and heavy, although there is also space for some acoustic passages. Everything about this album makes you want to grab a bottle of liquor, light a big fat joint and/or inject yourself with some kind of addictive fluid. A lovely record for the dark winter to come.

 

I’d like to conclude this review by telling you a short story about this band. As I am told by a reliable source, this band seems to have some drug problems (with all drugs known to man) which caused for the singer to run off after a show, never to be seen again. This happened about eight months ago, and still no sign from him. They’ve found replacement I’ve been told, yet this person has yet to prove to me that he can approach the sound that Keo has. Nevertheless this is one of the better stoner/doom records that I’ve heard lately, whilst also being a great tribute to one of the better grunge bands; Alice In Chains. If you dig both, jump onto this band like a pack of vultures on a carcass.