Big Business ‘The Beast You Are’ Review

Big Business ‘The Beast You Are’ Review: Seattle stoner metal duo bring bottom-heavy bliss on latest release.

Big Business has been one of the best under-the-radar American rock acts ever since their formation in 2006, whether playing as a two-piece, or as a full-blown band.

The act are back in power duo mode on their latest release, The Beast You Are (out April 12, Joyful Noise Recordings), with founding members Jared Warren (lead vocals, bass) and drummer Coady Willis expanding and refining their ruthless bottom end boogie.

All their formidable chops are in full display on the new album, which kicks off with the thunderous (and wonderfully titled) Abdominal Snowman, with a snarling synth-bass riff that ricochet around Willis’s drumming acrobatics.

Heal The Weak’s off-kilter rhythms and sonorous vocals recalls The Melvins at their heaviest, (which feels natural given Big Business has served as the occasional rhythm section for that band) topped with sleigh-bells and cavernous atmospherics.

Bright and Grey has prog-rock complexity, and is another example of the duo’s athletic approach to their instruments, while the majestic and hypnotic Time and Heat comes across like Kashmir on steroids, from its behind-the-beat kick to  Middle-Eastern-esque synth drones and meditative lyrics.

The album balances weighty anthems with weird moody instrumentals (Complacency Is Killing You and Those Around You, We’ll Take The Good Package) amidst rocking full-length numbers, with the group content to follow their own off-the-beaten musical path, from relentless bangers like People Behave and El Pollo to the horror show atmospherics of The Moor You Know and liquid riff insanity of Last Family.

The biggest curveball is the soothing Under Everest, another sleigh-bell flecked number that wouldn’t feel out-of-place on a Sigur Ros album, augmented by the cooing calming mantra You may need another hand/To keep you from harm.

But lest you think the album is coming to a somber close, the duo finish things off with the aptly titled Let Them Grind, one of the heaviest pummelers they’ve ever produced.

The Beast You Are more than lives up to its title, and shows that Big Business create a racket unlike any other, and with songs that should surely crush it live. Speaking of which, check out their 2019 tour dates below.