The primordial sludge is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there. Plenty of heavy bands do, of course. Fortunately, Dead Now ain’t one of them. Sure, this Atlanta power trio fronted by former Torche member and Ozzy soundalike Andrew Elstner display much of the doom-laden riffage of their obvious metal mentors. But on this self-titled EP, they’re evolved enough to upgrade it with plenty of rhythmic complexity and wise-acre creativity (sample song title: Ritchie Blackmourning). Basically, it’s like Sabbath — if Ozzy could do math.
