You have never heard more abrasive music than that made by Charger. Ever. Visualise four metallers taking sand paper and wire brushes to the cones of your brand new speakers before lobbing them out of a second storey window on to broken glass. That's how Charger sound, and then some.

Opening with a wall of open chords more distorted than the Iranian President's views on pacifism, the sludgiest, dirtiest song you've ever heard is The Dukes Of Nothing played at ¼ speed before screams to petrify your parents are dumped on top. At over eight minutes, this tune is also ridiculously long. However, if it does nothing else it should inspire you to catch this brutal doom crew live (just remember the ear plugs!).

In contrast, Birds Of Paradise's B-side is positively melodic, although would still send many a self-respecting Coldplay fan into paroxysms of fear. Featuring a xylophone, three people called Christopher and some truly progressive musicianship, they may not be as heavy but will probably be around a hell of a lot longer than the purveyors of the previous track!

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end of year feature musicOMH's 50 Best Albums Of 2009 From the nearly 700 albums we reviewed this year, which did our writers love the most? Introduction 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 20-11 | 10-4 | 1-3