The closest allegory to Canada's BISON B.C. is obviously MASTODON, or less obviously, a display of an ancient bison at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. In either case, one has little do with the other when viewed under the microscope of actively dissecting what makes a band unique. Simply put, BISON B.C. excel at the sort of lumberjack, ham-fisted, twisted riffery that MASTODON only hinted at before completely losing their minds and smashing through the atmosphere. BISON B.C., for those who don't know, have come to help you grow a beard, funnel beer, and in general feel alive again; slowly, for the most part, but still very much vital and downright dangerous if you allow their cascade of myriad Doom and Prog predilections to take you over utterly.

Hot on the heels of the amazingly well received debut, "Quiet Earth", "Dark Ages" picks up where the former left off but also has some new tricks up its collective sleeve, just aching to crawl across the shoulder blades and nestle in the great soup strainer of BISON B.C.'s collective (and amazingly astounding) lack of professional look or mode of dress.

To begin with, the sound both in terms of quality and depth is overall more well rounded on "Dark Ages", with every instrument being given a chance to really shine amidst the acrid black smoke (or is that green?) that BISON B.C. spews forth. Right from the get go, lead off track "Stressed Elephant" sets the mood, evoking dark images of tragic dinosaurs in a tar pit, and then a really weird thing happens: the main riff of "Fear Cave" rearranges your neurons. Really, you can feel this change occurring, and it burns mightily; penicillin will not help, and after all of that happens, the fine gents in BISON B.C. pull out some of the best Crust Punk this side of CRASS. It's a truly unique thing to be a party to, and this album is all around a party and a celebration of the best things in Sludge, Doom and even Crust and Punk in general, the goulash being one of many parts, and one that the brain can digest for days. Oh, and "Two-Day Drunk" makes you feel like it should; I think I still have a headache. On the whole, "Dark Ages" is a powerful and outright heavy event that does not compromise for want of short songs or mainstream acceptance. BISON B.C. are a plodding behemoth of calamity and they are poised to run you down. Now, excuse me, I need to go plant a Giant Sequoia.