Gator Bait Ten are a supergroup of sorts, but a deeply weird one. Consider the band's bloodline: it was founded by guitarist M. Gregor Filip (the Blood of Heroes) and bassist/organist Simon J. Smerdon (Mothboy), who were joined by bassist Submerged (the Blood of Heroes, Method of Defiance) and drummer Ted Parsons (Swans, Godflesh, Prong). If all of this leads you to expect deep, dark riffs, nuclear-powered drones, and sludgy, death-invoking beats, then you're on the right track. Is it enjoyable? Well, it does grow on you. "Trawl," the album-opening track, may induce a bit of eye-rolling with its ponderous non-beat and portentous, harmonically static roar. But by the time you get to "Red Van," the richness of the band's sonic stew has become more apparent: here the beat seems a bit less seasick, the layers of sound more densely packed, the harmonic structure (which is not to say the harmonic movement; there's still precious little of that) more artfully organized. Wondering if you were missing something during the first part of the album, you skip back -- and sure enough, you notice subtleties that were easy to miss on first listen, like the wind-on-the-tundra feedback touches on "Groundswell" and the unsettled beauty of the drifting harmonic cloud formations on "Trace Depth." Is it a party record? No, and it's probably not one you want to cue up if you're already in a bad mood. But it does reward close listening. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi

1		Trawl
2		Groundswell
3		Trace Depth
4		Little Things
5		Still Heat
6		Red Van
7		Harvester
8		Devil Wheel
9		3° Echo