by William York

Southern Discomfort gathers together tracks from three hard-to-find 7" releases, plus a few tracks recorded during the 1995 Dopesick sessions. Taking into account that the title track was later reworked and included on the 2000 release Confederacy of Ruined Lives (as "Jack Ass in the Will of God"), this CD actually contains songs from each of the band's first four studio albums. The standout among these alternate versions is "Peace Thru War (Thru Peace and War)," which is overlaid with a tossed-off and (very much unexpected) rap vocal that adds a real feeling of chaos; this is one of Eyehategod's most vicious moments on record. The other two highlights, the shuffling "Story of the Eye" and "Serving Time in the Middle of Nowhere," are two of Eyehategod's strongest and most memorable songs (and ironically the only ones that don't show up on any of the band's studio albums). The real space-eater, though, is the 16-minute "Dopesick Jam," which basically amounts to a gigantic medley of riffs and song fragments from throughout the band's career. Southern Discomfort may be aimed at more established fans, but in a roundabout way, it also provides a fairly good introduction to and retrospective of Eyehategod's music.