Album Review: Black Groove – Work Yourself To The Bone (Human Worth)

Releasing on November 13th, via Human Worth, ‘Work Yourself to the Bone’ is the new album from sludge metal band, Black Groove.

Gnarly and noisy, Black Groove’s sludge is the kind that feels destructive, the kind that slams into your mind with the force of a tornado, and the kind that you can’t help but sink into. Not only is it so much harsher than what purveyors of sludge might expect, it comes with this nihilistic vein that throbs intensely throughout. Across eight harsh and horrible tracks, they flood and suffocate the mind with a cacophony of filthy instrumentals and howling vocals that might be better suited for something on the blacker side of metal.

Yet there’s so much more, and it is an album which constantly finds a way to surprise. Riffs? They have them. A bit of body shaking groove? It’s here. Esoteric experimentation and a remarkable amount of genre-bending? Duh. Black Groove want to crush the minds, destroy spirits, and devastate bodies, but they’re more than up for doing it in a measured, creative, and expanded way.

I can promise you that you’re going to feel like you’ve been wrecked long before Mutton and Fuck Nose are done. Two of the heaviest, nastiest, and ugliest sounding metal tracks of the 2026.

Then along comes Everything n Nothing to up the tempo significantly, creating a maelstrom of heaviness and speed that has a hardcore and punk feel. Before Robert’s Johnson crushing tones, Crowbar-style riffs, and roaring vocals arrive, and Little Jimmy threatens to knock a block off or two with its showcase of manic energy. Who says Black Groove doesn’t have varied ideas!? Certainly not me, and I think by the halfway point, most will be well and truly invested in the album.

Which is good because things get a bit more distorted and raw on the hefty Sloggers. The big riff in this one will grind you down, but at around the halfway mark, it shifts tone, and things get a little doomier. I dig it.

Capping things off, we have Looking Thin and Dave the Double Shift Slave. The former is so slow and methodical, it hurts. Every instrumental crash strikes like a lightning bolt, the vocals leave scars, and the carnage that comes in the last couple of minutes is the sound of a collapsing psyche. I fucking love it. Whereas the latter is so fuzzy, my teeth ached listening to it. It’s a long one too, passing the ten-minute mark, but truthfully, I didn’t feel it. I was far too invested in the horrifying sounds on offer.

So much so that when it ended, I found myself sitting in the same spot for a few minutes in utter silence. I needed a moment to let what I had just heard sink in. Black Groove have crafted a very challenging, but surprisingly compelling, record here, and purveyors of all things ugly will certainly find themselves drawn to it.

Black Groove – Work Yourself to the Bone Track Listing:

1. Mutton
2. Fuck Nose
3. Everything n Nothing
4. Robert’s Johnson
5. Little Jimmy
6. Sloggers
7. Looking Thin
8. Dave The Double Shift Slave

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Human Worth