Sometimes a project like Cruickshank just has to happen. The meeting of a group of like-minded musicians whose only ambition is to crank out somethin’ gnarly and see what comes of the process. It helps immensely that the members of Cruickshank are veterans of heavy music, and yet still keen to push its boundaries. Their eponymous début seethes with a sludgy yet lean energy that speaks of many garage rehearsals to dial in this level of chemistry.

Leading this show is Graham Christian, whose snarling accusations are in competition with the instrumentation for the listener’s affection, and his trade-offs with drummer Mark McGee are some of the many highlights on Cruickshank. Every element, from the exploratory tone of the guitars to the turn-on-a-dime drum work, feels casual yet calculated – Cruickshank know what they’re doing, but there’s no showboating. Take “Hard Damage”, for instance, a track where the drums go from 0-100 with no prior warning, and can then drop out at a moment’s notice to let the guitars and bass have interplay, and every part of it feels natural. Some tendrils of sludge, doom, hardcore, and grindcore creep in, but the very notion of ‘genre’ plays second fiddle to such great musicianship.

The ultimate takeaway from Cruickshank is that this group have a phenomenal début on their hands, marvelously executed, and ready for fans of heavy, sludgy yet technical music to jump onboard. This record, and the band, deserves a lot of limelight.

FFO: Iron Monkey, Cobra Noir
Cruickshank are:
Graham Christian – Vocals
Mark McGee – Drums / Vocals
Scott Miller – Bass
Marc Bourgon – Guitar