BIIPIIGWAN — Something For Everyone; Nothing For Anyone (review)

BIIPIIGWAN — Something For Everyone; Nothing For Anyone album cover

Album · 2013 · Sludge Metal

4/5 · 2020-12-12
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A few years back, I found my musical interests gravitating back to my first love: heavy metal. I had been out of any new developments since the early nineties other than the odd album here and there which usually left only a lukewarm impression. So when I returned to the world of metal music, I had to do some research to find out what was going on in the scene and what I needed to do to get up to speed. One of the subgenres I soon learned about was sludge metal. The name sounded intriguing. I learned about Mastodon and Baroness and ordered albums. And I discovered that I liked sludge metal!

To date, my sludge metal album collection hasn't even begun to scratch the surface, but one album I recently got as a download from Bandcamp (would love a CD of this!) that has won me over is "Something for Everyone, Nothing for Anyone" by Biipiigwan.

Yes, the band name is curious. It's the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) word for a war whistle. And before anyone can scream "Cultural appropriation!" you should know that band leader Musqwaunquot "Musky" Rice is Anishinaabe and he likes to use words from the Ojibwe language in the band's song titles.

"Something for Everyone, Nothing for Anyone" is the debut full-length release by Biipiigwan and their fourth release overall. It also remains their most recent release, unfortunately. The band continued doing live shows through to 2018 but since then their social media accounts have no new posts. The album's title comes from a joking remark made by one of the band members who referred to the band having a blend of metal, hardcore, sludge, doom, and noise rock in their music (something for everyone) but ultimately producing music that no one would be interested in (nothing for anyone).

Compared to their previous EP and demo releases, this album shows a remarkable improvement in professional recording quality. While the other albums were very indie-sounding with the looseness and roughness of a hardcore/sludge band intent on pulverizing the concrete of the sidewalks outside with sonic impact, this album sees the band entering a higher level of quality recording.

Their music still packs every pound of wrecking ball thump and wallop - no loss there! But this is the album that could have placed them as a world contender in sludge. In a January, 2014 interview in Decibel Magazine, Musky had these words to say about the album:

"I find the new record to be a little more riff-driven and not as dissonant and ugly-sounding as our earlier work and in my opinion that has to do with Mike (guitars) having actual musical knowledge (as opposed to myself) and my own song writing becoming a bit more focused. Because of that I think it’s more cohesive and accessible. Also, Topon did an amazing job recording the album; production-wise it’s the best thing we’ve released."

Generally speaking, the songs here are just solid crushers each of them, with Musky's vocals having all the subtlety of an angry biker who wants to make sure the Hell's Angels Chapter in the next town over can hear how pissed he is! My favourite track has to be "Shkweyaang" for it's frequent riff changes and for that one really awesome part where one guitar plays a new riff and then when the drums come in, the second guitar amp is just crackling and ready to spit sheer energy before the second guitar joins in with the riff.

This is one of those albums where I could feel as though the music was invading my brain and rapidly sending tendrils into all the blood vessels in my torso and tugging on my flesh from the inside. It's really a shame that I can't get this on CD because I'd love a physical copy. It seems like thievery that I could buy all three of the band's available releases from Bandcamp for under $7!

This is an album I will keep handy on my smart phone for some time to come. I sure hope the band gets together to record a new album in the next year or two.