Does anyone outside of the United Kingdom know about these guys? I fuckin' flipped over their last album The Voyage of the Pessimistic Philosoph, which came out six years ago on the same label; the quirky mixture of blackened, brutal hardcore and thuggish noise rock that The Art Of Burning Water created on that record crushed in a big, big way, but despite my raving, it seems like they've gone on to fly further beneath the radar than ever. Didn't even know they were still around when Super-Fi dropped this new Lp in my lap, all decked out in black, minimal layout, an almost ascetic look to the thing. I couldn't slap it onto my deck fast enough though, and was once again quite flattened by what The Art has to offer. Apparently this stuff was recorded in 2007 but sat around on someone�s back burner, so the pummeling metallic chaos and grudge-fuck riffs sound like a direct continuation of their previous effort. Beginning with a gorgeous blurred out, distorted piano intro, Head Of The Tempest launches into a series of nine violent outrages of potent blackened hardcore, burly noise rock, and angular sludge, with standout drumming from skinpounder Jason who whips his kit into convulsive surges of complex, churning rhythm and force beneath the spiky angular metallic riffs, the sound frequently evoking a much more evil, blackened version of Mastodon. More than anything, it's always been front man Grief and his hysterical strangled vocals that have given Art Of Burning Water their unique psychotic edge, his throat veering dervish-like from gritty, low howling to agonized screaming to off-balance yowling with a very distinct British accent, the vocal parts used sparingly as the band grinds through long stretches of instrumental bludgeon. The riffs are MASSIVE, derived from a strain of ugly, Am Rep style noise rock that's outfitted with crushing metallic weight, and stretches of thunderous hypnotic drumming and trippy samples/effects lead off into weird almost industrial percussive freak-outs. The awesome closing track "Toymaker" is The Art at their most ferocious and fearsome, the singer's strangulated screams looped endlessly over a grueling slo-motion dirge-chug that's fucking monstrous. Recommended in a big way if you're into real heavy, real pissed metallic noise-rock mayhem with an evil, off-kilter quality. I can't wait to hear what they'll be doing next, as I've heard that The Art now have Dave Cochrane of Head Of David / Greymachine / Transitional / Ice fame playing bass for 'em. Released in a limited edition of three hundred copies on black vinyl.