Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods

After the sad and tragic demise of the great Silkworm, members Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen reconvened to form Bottomless Pit with former Seam drummer Chris Manfrin and .22 bassist Brian Orchard. Over the course of almost two years, the band has been playing shows and writing and recording their debut album Hammer of the Gods, which was recently self-released by the band a little over a month ago on double 12-inch vinyl. The vinyl package also comes with a CD of the music as well, for those lacking a turntable. For many, this album has been greeted with much anticipation and for those that are holding out for a legitimate CD release of the album, recent startup label Comedy Minus One will be taking care of that come November 6th.

Being a fan of Silkworm, and Seam for that matter, I am one of the many that were really looking forward to hearing the album, even though many of the tracks included on it have been available for preview in some form or another for a good while now. Regardless, having them all in one place and hearing them through a proper source (ie: my stereo instead of some cruddy MySpace stream) is magnificent. The wait was by far and away worth it as the songs sound better than I could have ever imagined as they do here on Hammer of the Gods. For those that haven’t heard the band at all to this point, they are a bit less straightforward rock than Silkworm. The songs seem to almost drift along while laying down melodies and hooks that almost make the hair on my arms stand up. Dabbling a bit in the moody/airy qualities of eighties post-punk and combining it with the mid-nineties background that the members of the band played a big part in has created a sure fire winner in Hammer of the Gods. Song’s like “Leave the Light On” and “Human Out of Me” are two in particular that showcase the quality of songwriting that went into making this album. At this point there is no question Hammer of the Gods will somehow find its way into my year end list. It’s simply a great record.

Bottomless Pit – The Cardinal Movements [MP3]

I can’t recommend picking up this album enough. For those looking to order the album, both the vinyl+CD and CD versions can be had over at Comedy Minus One. Keep in mind that the single CD release of the album won’t be available until Nov. 6th; however it’s currently up for preorder at the link that I just provided. So don’t hesitate to pick this up, in whatever format.