{"id":295735,"date":"2026-02-17T13:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/295735\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T13:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:57:07","slug":"cattle-hammer-dark-thoughts-with-lights-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/295735\/","title":{"rendered":"Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" English is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose \u201cpowder\u201d or \u201ccarve\u201d and gamers repurpose \u201cown\u201d or \u201csweaty,\u201d metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about \u201cfilthy\u201d guitar tones and \u201crazor sharp\u201d riffs, discuss \u201ccavernous\u201d production and \u201csuffocating\u201d weight, and use violent imagery\u2014bleeding ears, caved in skulls\u2014to denote quality. So when I read phrases like \u201cslow, painful march,\u201d \u201csoporific dirge,\u201d and \u201cempty decades between chords\u201d on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke\u2019s on me, though. They weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist\/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He\u2019s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. \u201cGloomsower\u201d leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater<\/a>. \u201cRotting\u201d features short tremolos, although they don\u2019t do much besides check the \u201cblackened\u201d box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to \u201cWatchmen, Alone\u201d caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, \u201cBody Puzzle\u201d ends on some interesting synths, but it\u2019s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can\u2019t tell, I\u2019m really reaching for positives here, but there\u2019s not a one that isn\u2019t ultimately a disappointment.<\/p>\n

\ufeffDark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer<\/a><\/p>\n

Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in \u201cGloomsower\u201d is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument\/key tactic is fairly common (\u201cRotting,\u201d \u201cWatchmen, Alone\u201d). Organ (\u201cWatchmen, Alone,\u201d \u201cBody Puzzle\u201d) and piano (\u201cRotting\u201d) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer\u2019s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie, Cattle Hammer\u2019s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren\u2019t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs\u2014I\u2019m being generous, calling them that\u2014in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (\u201cWatchmen, Alone,\u201d \u201cBody Puzzle\u201d). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man<\/a>, The Body<\/a>, or Sumac<\/a> hit so well. It\u2019s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it\u2019s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What\u2019s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren\u2019t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn\u2019t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it\u2019s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that\u2019s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant. Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.<\/p>\n

Rating: 1.0\/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist<\/a>
Websites: Bandcamp<\/a> | Ampwall<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:\n<\/p>\n