Luder Adelphophagia

I was going to damn Luder with faint praise, and talk about how I liked them, but knew it was mushy, sugary ear candy, but then, I found myself listening again and again, and I started to realize they're really good.
 So, on the first listen, you'll hear a band that sounds exactly like Medicine meets Lacuna Coil. Yes, it's a hybrid thing, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't ( For example, I've seen several blogs going all runny over Watertank. Watertank are a great idea on paper- post-hardcore, a la Quicksand and Helmet meets Stoner  Rock a la QOTSA. In practice, the result is Nu Metal. Seriously, several tracks end up sounding like Taproot. I still think they have some talent, but, ultimately, they're not for me) . But, upon a repeat listen or two, I started to realize it was a bit more progressive than all that- more like Medicine ( Singer Sue Lott is a sonic dead ringer for Beth Thompson)  meets Isis, or maybe Pelican.  Yes, it gets a bit drone-y, and yes, they can beat a riff into the ground, but mostly, it's pretty engaging stuff. It takes some patience, but ultimately, I think what they could put up on the website would be " Luder is not Stoner Rock. Luder is rock that will make you stoned" .
So, despite the death metal title ( something to do with baby death in the womb) this isn't obscuro progressive, either-but, well, I can say this by way of a negative- one problem I have with psychedelic music is that most of the time, the band sounds like they're about to break into either "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "Sweet Emotion"- there's none of that here. More like they sound like they're going to beat up A Perfect Circle. If you're a hard sell, try starting with the crushing twisted metal cover of "I'm Afraid of Americans" then, try "Ask the Sky" then go back and listen to the whole LP- this is truly progressive rock, if that term is supposed to mean rock music that's going somewhere,  not just guys showing off how many scales they can play. I'm thinking , for example, of the difference between Jane's Addiction, and Phish. Both could be said to play "progressive rock" yet which one pushed things further? Luder are pushing things forward. I don't want to put down Small Stone, but give this band the kind of budget and push that Relapse and above can afford? They'd eclipse bands like Royal Thunder and Blood Ceremony.
So, despite my initial doubts, I'm really glad I gave this hybrid a chance to grow on me. What I'd really like now is to see them on tour...