Leather Lung – Graveside Grin

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · September 7, 2024

Leather Lung is a Boston, Massachusetts based stoner/sludge/doom metal band that started in 2012. They released four EPs, Reap What You Sow (2014), Lost In Temptation (2016), Lonesome, On’ry And Evil (2019), and Dive Bar Devil (2022), before releasing their debut full length album, Graveside Grin. The record came out March 15th, 2024 on Magnetic Eye Records and contains 11 songs. The band members of Leather Lung are: Mike on vocals, Zach on guitar and vocals, Ben on drums, Jesse on bass & vocals, and Greg on guitar.

I first heard about Leather Lung in 2021 and checked out all of their EPs at that time. It was before Dive Bar Devil was out. I liked what I heard and was intrigued by their sound. I was excited to hear about the band doing a full length album.

“Spit In The Casket” is the first song and single on Graveside Grin. It starts with feedback fading into the guitar riff building up, that breaks into a glorious mosh pit inducing stampede. Mike’s vocals are raspy and pretty nasty overall. It blends well with the heavy sludge riffing that the music delivers. Leather Lung added a second guitarist in Greg and the sound is that much more pronounced and brutal. They do some cool guitar interplays that work well with the songs too. The next track is called “Big Bad Bodega Cat” and it’s got a mean groove about it. Part of the charm of Leather Lung is the swing style raunchy rhythms they create. The song gets the foot tapping and it also has some cool guitar leads thrown in too. “Freewheelin’ Maniac” has a driving rhythm with nice string muting action going on. It’s a solid rocking song. The second single called “Empty Bottle Boogie” starts with a nice discordant bass riff groove with drums that shuffles the song along in a sick frenzy. It’s a fun drinking song that packs a mean punch and has backing vocals too. The band utilize some very cool, clean singing vocals courtesy of guitarist Zach, at the end that further enhance the tune. I love it when bands don’t take everything so seriously and can have a good time playing heavy music. Leather Lung is definitely this kind of band. “Guilty Pleasure” begins with clean guitars but then descends into a brutal song and almost death metal sounding at certain parts. The song picks up the pace and chugs some tough guy beat down riffing. Mike’s vocals are diabolical on this one and the music incorporates some interesting high guitar squealing with sludgy bass too. The sixth song called “Macrodose (Interlude)” is only about a minute and twenty seconds long and has a sample over a grooving bass driven heavy riff, courtesy of Jesse, that fades out quickly. It’s trademark Leather Lung in which all of their releases had similar sound fragments as a transitional album midpoint.

“La La Land” fades into the second half of the record with a vengeance. Heavy transpiring rhythms from almost spacy to sludgy. Ben lays down some good drumming parts on this one also. The next tune is one of the highlights for me on Graveside Grin. “Twisting Flowers” starts with bass and drums with feedback leading into a nice heavy groove riff. More of Zach’s clean singing goes along with the riff and it really makes the song stand out. Mike also shreds his vocal cords in unison. A great combination using both vocal styles with the riffing. “Headstone” starts with bass and drums jamming with the guitars flavoring in. It all cranks in together and moves along in a savage rhythm throughout. “Cornered Animal” is another brutal track. It starts with a sample and bulldozes into a heavy death marching rhythm. Punishing riffing all the way through which kind of reminds me of Soulless/Hating Life era Grave, musically. Finally, “Raised Me Rowdy” finishes off the record with more heavy grooving with layers of sludge mixed in.

Leather Lung has created a nice riotous slab of grungy doom. For their debut full length album, they crushed it! The band has a pretty unique sound overall mixing in heavy sludge and doom with swing bluesy grooves. The clean vocals are a nice contrast to the music and add such a dynamic edge to the Leather Lung sound, harnessing old school Acid Bath. Graveside Grin is a great recording to sink your teeth into and blast your eardrums out with.