Ambassador Gun - Tomb Of Broken Sleep

Tracklist:-

1. Heart Of Corruption

2. Narcotic

3. Invaders

4. Once Upon The Sauce

5. Tomb Of Broken Sleep

6. Fire At Will

7. Mighty Steed

8. County Fair Massacre

9. Karamazov

10. Smoke Crack Worship Satan

I was sat down last night scrolling through my e-mails and a couple of articles online. It got me wondering about all of the bands and releases from the last couple of years that have just passed me by, through no fault of their own. So I thought, before I write my next label spotlight I'll try and focus on a few older bands and records. I'm starting out this week with the self-released (and final) 2015 opus "Tomb Of Broken Sleep" by now defunct US grinders Ambassador Gun. The band formed in 2005 and split up last year. They released three EPs, three full-lengths, a split with Enabler and were at one point courted by Prosthetic Records. I'm hoping that reviews like this will form some kind of archive eventually.

Ambassador Gun plays punchy and surprisingly catchy grind on “Tomb Of Broken Sleep”. Album opener Heart Of Corruption lays waste to all of your senses, while AG blast and scream like their lives depend on it. Talking of blasts, the drums are pretty high in the mix along with the vocals, meaning that the guitars aren’t as prominent when AG are in full flow. Narcotic is so brutal though that small details like that are quickly forgotten. It doesn’t get any easier on Invaders. The sense of urgency is overwhelming and the grinding intensity created only lets up when the slower, sludgy riffs come into play halfway through. It’s a welcome change of pace though and it shows off their metal chops off too.  The noise that permeates between songs reminds me a lot of early Full Of Hell, before they went off the charts. Once Upon The Sauce pulls no punches yet still manages to land a knockout blow. The title-track follows instantly and the screams are utterly piercing in a way that will make you grin from ear to ear. It’s also the point at which you realise just how technical this trio are. The tempo changes, off-kilter instrumentation and coordination are all top notch. Fire At Will is the only sub-one minute song on “Tomb Of Broken Sleep” but it proves that they can out-grind any grind band. The menacing treble at the start of Mighty Steed leads to a mid-paced noise-a-thon, with sporadic forays into fastness. County Fair Massacre makes the perfect title for a death metal song and the song itself isn’t actually too far off in terms of sound. It’s also delivered with the most un-human levels of percussion battery you’re ever likely to witness. Penultimate song Karamazov goes back to AG’s catchier sound, albeit briefly. Fuzz is the order of the day on Smoke Crack Worship Satan, as that’s exactly what it starts off with. what follows is one final stab in face by way of madcap, raging grind/death/noise. Though Ambassador Gun are no more, their back catalogue is still available for streaming and digital download via their bandcamp page below. You could do a lot worse.

Ambassador Gun - https://www.facebook.com/ambassadorgunmpls/