"II: The Chronovisor" is the second release from English underground band MISTRESS. The group was formed in Birmingham, birthplace of BLACK SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST, as well as NAPALM DEATH, ESOTERIC, and a whole range of other bands. The album is a splendid piece of sludge metal. Although several tracks are more like extremely harsh hardcore verging on grindcore -- such as "Psychic One Inch Bunch," "Piss for Blood, Shit For Brains," and "Wanker Colony," the shorter compositions on the album -- we periodically hear groove elements within them, which are also hallmarks of sludge. The tracks "Hit Bottom" and "No Memory" are more like excessively extreme doom-death. The undisputed masterpiece and best song on the album is the closing "38." Lasting just under 13 minutes, with a very dirty sound and permeated by a creepy and extremely aggressive atmosphere, musically it is doom metal combined with extreme hardcore -- which is, in essence, sludge! In 2005 the album was reissued with two bonus tracks featuring very dirty production -- a cover of DARKTHRONE's "In The Shadow of the Horns" and CROWBAR's "Like Broken Glass." The disc is recommended to fans of extreme yet not high-speed directions in heavy music. There is, to put it mildly, plenty to listen to here.
