Loca Review: Xur/ Mich!gan – By the Beard of Zeus

Xur/ Mich!gan
By the Beard of Zeus

Exigent Records
Street: 07.10
Xur = Ocean + Lustmord + Isis
Mich!gan = Converge + Botch

By the Beard of Zeus is a split LP from the bands Xur and the no longer existing Mich!gan. The first three tracks are Xur’s the band is a big gnarly metal machine. The first track “Under Siege” begins with a looped trumpet sample and jumps directly into a sludged out detuned awesome nightmare, this song is definitely the best of the songs that Xur offer on the album. The next two songs are like the first, dirty sludge/stoner metal every once in awhile throwing in some acoustic guitar to break up the chaos. Xur’s music is the most original local music I have heard in a while and after talking to bassist Kory Quist at Oni Tattoo, they are getting a lot of attention from Metal Blade. These guys are going to be famous rock stars soon, so check them out now so you can brag about it. Mich!gan basically consists of the members of Xur plus the new drummer for The Used, Dan Whitesides. These three intense tracks are basically a speed up version of the first three Xur tracks with a lot more screaming. It’s cool to listen to these songs to see how the members of Xur have grown musically. By the Beard of Zeus is the way to go. –Jon Robertson