All of the discs that we just got from Robotradio - the other two from Lucertulas and Putiferio - are killer slabs of super heavy, metallic neo-noise rock from the Italian underground, every one burly and noisy and brimming over with feirce energy. If I had to pick a favorite though, it would probably be this album from Dead Elephant that came out in 2008. Lowest Shared Descent features an unexpected but very cool mix of sounds; Dead Elephant draw much of their sound from the ferocious, lurching noise rock of the Jesus Lizard, with crushing angular guitars and a churning rhythm section and a vocalist spewing out frantic howls, but into this familiar sound they toss in a heavy dose of psychedelia and jazz and other neat elements. The first two tracks are short lurching eruptions of fast paced noise rock with spacey guitar fx and some killer sludgey riffage, but then "Post Crucifixion" kicks in and we hear a bleating, honking saxophone blowing hard free-jazz skronk over the short lurching two minute blast of jagged pummel, courtesy of Zu saxophonist Luca Mai. Later, another notable guest shows up on the almost doomy "The Same Breath", which features Eugene Robinson singing and howling over the song, which towards the end kicks into some surprisingly melodic rock. The contributions from those two guys certainly add some cool flavor to the album, but it's not like the band needs it...the combination of sludgy metallic noise rock, avant-garde ambience and industrial noise is pretty unique, especially on tracks like "The Worst And The Best", where the menacing dirge-like beginning slowly evolves into a sea of granular white noise, or the epic ten-minute "Black Coffee Breakfast", which again channels that brutal, lurching Jesus Lizard vibe for the first four minutes, but then slowly unravels itself and becomes lost in a shimmering incandescent sea of kosmiche drift that stretches out for some time, until a throbbing, krautrock-like drumbeat and droning bassline appear towards the end, guiding the song into a frantic psychedelic finale that sounds like Akimbo gone space rock. It's an amazing album that's hands down the heaviest on the label, and fans of everything from Black Elk to Jesus Lizard to Neurosis and Unsane should check these guys out. Recommended!

Like all of the Robotradio releases, the packaging is really nice, a four panel gatefold sleeve with slips inside of a full color case along with a lyric booklet.