I don’t know how POHL’s FREAKSPEED found its way to my ears, but I’m sure glad this ecstasy of crushing sludge rock did.

The overall vibe is a heady mix of Alice in Chains, Jucifer and Weedeater.

Opener ‘Erectum’ is an unrelenting instrumental barrage that builds and builds only to start building again; it serves as ample warning—grab beer/fill bong/strap in—for what’s to come.

Title track ‘Freakspeed’ packs a mighty punch while vocals reveal themselves to be as a fine silver blade slicing through rich multi-layered chocolate cake; deep and rich versus thin and slick.

‘Parasite’ rumbles into chant before reaching a compelling mantra. With incantation it climbs to a peak of spell-casting wizardry: hypnotic, demanding, mesmerising, rising in orgasmic elation; at first riding the comedown soothingly, before becoming a truck needing to brake harder than it should.

‘Superpredator’ hits hard relentlessly, like the truck above decided to barrel straight on ahead instead of hitting the brakes; charging without compromise into a deluge of sharp driving snow, shifting ever upward through a hundred-geared-box, blinded by the light but always straight as an arrow right between the eyes.

‘Insect Agony’ opens reminiscent of Rocket from the Crypt, has a get down n’ dirty swagger that the lyrics surf across in characteristic style; here like leaning on a bar in a beer, bong and sun drenched haze having a time with anyone who’ll listen; which is no one, as over at the pool table a brawl’s broken out that the rest of the place is getting all the more involved in, the cue-snapping-stool-smashing melee getting ever closer.

Sounds of the occult abound on ‘Bleating White Reflections’, a twisting track that leads into the realms of Black Sabbath; ominous and psychedelic in equal measure.

‘Outro’ picks up the baton with fair hint of Dylan Carlson’s Earth to fade as a giant sun behind a mountain range on a hot desert horizon . . .

FREAKSPEED saw release in 2020, when POHL was based in Bristol and featured Will Pearce guitar/vocals and Jamie Thompson drums. Incredibly, given the high standard of song composition and production, the album—along with all other POHL releases—is available on Bandcamp NYP; in other words, free if you need it to be.

There is plenty reason for an independent band/label to make its music available this way, but at this level of quality . . . This is a rare thing; a diamond in the rough and a bloody big bulldozing one at that.

More recently POHL underwent a change of line-up and location: now based in Sheffield, Will is joined by Dr Linda Westman—formally of Canadian death-sludgers Old Hope—on drums.

In November 2022, two track EP Narrator/The Whale saw release.

It’s still very much the POHL of FREAKSPEED—including respects the fantastic production level—but there’s something else: another layer added to the chocolate cake; only this time not chocolate.

The Bandcamp page for FREAKSPEED says (in part): ‘It’s an EP, not an epic noise-prog-space-rock double album. But it’s finished. And now Freakspeed has found its way to you.’

Not only ironic given I’ve no idea how it did, prog wasn’t something that jumped out at me, whereas Narrator/The Whale leans heavily in the direction of Liverpool genre legends Mugstar with a fair hint of NYC’s coolest couple White Hills to boot.

‘Narrator’ is krautrock as f**k; a sunglasses on, foot-to-the-floor, autobahn anthem! The new line-up unleashing a beast with more width between strides; mammoth and methodical in its quest to pick up the listener and carry them along for the ride.

The tracks merge, ‘The Whale’ signalling its arrival with a surprising Van Halen-esque riff that when reappearing at points somehow manages to sit perfectly in a track representative of its name; its movement very much in line with a whale riding the waves, diving, going ever deeper with great purposeful thrusts of energy that are slowed into throbs by the depth, before the need to surface for air again rises, and the beast once more ascends hoping to not meet humanity when getting there for fear of what might be in store.

POHL is currently working on its first full length album and hope to see its release by the end of 2023, with a single planned within the next couple of months. Personally, I can’t wait!

Not so much a case of watch this space, but follow the socials below:

• bandcamp
• facebook
• instagram

Thanks to Will Pearce for taking time out clarify a couple of aspects; much appreciated!

And of course:

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