Outlaw Order - "Dragging Down the Enforcer", 2008

In the early 2000s, New Orleans' Eyehategod (also stylized as "EHG") was still a name that mostly only dedicated fans of the so-called sludge metal community knew; despite a run of bigger arena shows supporting Pantera in the second half of the 90s and having its guitar player Jimmy Bower playing drums in the all-star band Down with Phil Anselmo (as well as guitar in Superjoint Ritual), it remained a relatively underground cult band until some years later, when it started touring massively and it finally was rediscovered, achieving a wider worldwide recognition. While the 2000 to 2010 timeframe was a troubled time for frontman and singer Mike Williams, facing problems with the law and addiction (even leading to a short incarceration in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina), the members of Eyehategod always kept themselves busy musically, even when their main band was on hiatus for one reason or another. That's why, while Jimmy Bower was temporarily unavailable due to commitments with his other bands, the rest of the guys went on to form a side project called Outlaw Order (stylized as "00%"), a name chosen since all of the band members at the time were on probation for different crimes. Featuring the whole of the Eyehategod lineup (minus Bower) plus ex-Eyehategod member Marc Shultz, the band went on to record a demo titled "Legalize Crime", later issued by Southern Lord as a limited 7" in 2003 and by Deep Six Record on CD in 2006 (with an extra track). The demo/EP showcased a raw, furious band leaning more towards hardcore than sludge/doom, with generally faster-moving rhythms than Eyehategod, although the trademark slowdowns and southern-tinged riffs of the latter were still largely featured throughout. 

Following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the ensuing Mike Williams' arrest, it seemed like Outlaw Order's future was uncertain, but eventually Williams was released, sort of cleaned up his act, and the band managed to record its debut full-length album, released in 2008 by the well-known French label Season of Mist. 

Make no mistake, "Dragging Down the Enforcer" is one hell of a record. Still featuring Gary Mader and Brian Patton on guitars - the latter also taking care of bass duties, since Schultz got incarcerated in the meantime and replacement Justin Grisoli didn't last - Joey LaCaze on drums, and Mike Williams on vocals, and clocking in at just 27 minutes (including a couple of short intro and outro ambient/noise tracks), it's a riff-fest where the band perfected its scorching mixture of early-80s hardcore and sludge metal. Compared to Eyehategod, the songs offer a slightly more intricate approach, though, displaying more tempo changes and weirder time signatures, as well as a few fast riffs that you definitely wouldn't find in EHG. The album's sense of urgency and social unrest - exemplified by the artwork and by the pictures featured in the booklet - is even more upfront and palpable than in Eyehategod, and song titles leave no doubts about the topics covered throughout, although Williams' lyrics - as usual - aren't disclosed and his screams are pretty much undecipherable. The singer seems to be in fine form, though, turning in a brutal performance, at that point probably one of his best ones, especially when compared with the latest Eyehategod full-length album at the time, 2000's "Confederacy of Ruined Lives", where he sounded a little tired. 

Opener "Relive the Crime" is an excellent display of what we'll find on here, from the faster riff in the beginning to the crushing slowdowns and the constant tempo switches, leading to a torturous, punishing sludge-core exercise that takes no prisoners. The brilliant "Siege Mentality" isn't far behind, while the title track, "Dragging Down the Enforcer" - chosen as the album's closer - takes it up a notch with a surprisingly fast blast-beat and some stop-and-go breaks, featuring absolutely killer mid-tempo riffs. 

"Mercy Shot", placed in the middle of the tracklist, is probably one of my favorites, since it's when the tension the band boiled up to that point explodes; the verses, based on a convulsive rhythm, detonate in a destructive main riff before a bass guitar break leads to a typical Eyehategod-style section (complete with a sudden speed up in its ending part). Similarly, "Narco-Terroristos" is another number where the band jams along an unusual time signature with unexpected tempo changes, displaying the creative space the members were in while writing this record. 

If the band clearly has a character of its own, there are still plenty of EHG references throughout the album, from the bass being often at the forefront to the bluesy, southern-fried swagger that drives many of the riffs or the doomier pace of certain sections. Songs such as "Safety Off", "Walking Papers", "Alcohol Tobacco Firearms" or the nicely titled "Double Barrel Solves Everything" - the latter a re-recording of the song "D.B.S.E." from the previous 2003's EP - are a good example of that. The songwriting also resembles another of Gary Mader's bands, Hawg Jaw; it's safe to say that Outlaw Order comes off as a mix between the two main bands of its two guitarists, with some added old-school hardcore bursts of speed.

The band's performance is as solid as it gets, and the album's production sounds a bit cleaner and more compressed than in Eyehategod, with the drums being particularly punchy. Patton and Mader are good guitar players, and while the band's riffs revolve around similar patterns as EHG's, their touch and sound seem a tad different than Bower's, probably a bit more metal-ish compared to his bluesier, punkier approach.

"Dragging Down the Enforcer" is a great alternative to Eyehategod, and I probably like it even more than the two albums that EHG itself released later on, in 2014 and 2021, respectively. Considering the 14-year gap between EHG's "Confederacy of Ruined Lives" and the self-titled, the Outlaw Order record was a more than welcome gift to all the fans starving for new material from the inimitable New Orleans sludge masters, and it possessed its own twist. With EHG resuming its activities full-time since about 2009 onwards, Outlaw Order became yesterday's news, and unfortunately it's been hibernated since; with Brian Patton leaving EHG in 2018 to focus on his family, it's a pity that the less demanding 00% wasn't revived, at least not yet. If you missed this (and the 2003 "Legalize Crime" EP), you better catch up with it, since it's one of the best releases in the genre and on par with any other Eyehategod record; it's too bad it's so short, but it makes up for it with an all-killer, no-filler selection of songs.