It’s always interesting to see when musicians jump from project to project and do a complete musical 180 in the process. But from hardcore punk to psych blues is novel one.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Cream
Gov’t Mule – Revolution Come… Revolution Go
Revolution Come… Revolution Go (Spinefarm), the first Gov’t Mule record since 2013’s Shout and their 20th-anniversary celebrations a year later, starts off in their customary Blues Rock fashion – evoking their Cream and Free influenced power trio origins.Continue reading
The Jimmy Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced Album Turns 50
Fifty years ago this week, The Jimmy Hendrix Experience exploded on the scene with the release of their début album Are You Experienced (Track Records), and changed music forever. A critical and commercial success at the time, the album stands today as one of the most innovative and enduring records ever released, with a musical shadow that is still inspiring new guitar players today across every genre of music. Continue reading
Slabdragger – Rise of the Dawncrusher
I first saw Croydon bludgers Slabdragger three years ago and, having been completely flattened by their bone-crunching resonance, immediately bought first album Regress (Holy Roar Records). Despite it being good, I subsequently felt they were a band to be witnessed rather than merely heard.That all changes here. Sophomore long-player Rise of the Dawncrusher (Holy Roar Records) is a mammoth, sprawling journey through the black holes of the cosmos, an achievement all the more amazing given the setbacks the band has suffered in recent years. The musical twangs of opener ‘Mercenary Blues’ carry enough portent to warn of the forthcoming walls of forest-levelling sound and, despite the melodic hollers of Yusuf Tary and Jim Threader, the ensuing riff grabs your soul and sticks it in a blender. Stoner-Sludge in tone and feel yet Psychedelic in its warping terror, the difference here is the wonderfully enlivening, Progressive nature of the linking passages: versatile verses with vocal switches between Blackened screams and guttural roars, still underpinned by the cavernous yet occasionally cascading stellar pathway.
Whatever Slabdragger had before, the ability to flick such a heavy pattern through the chords has multiplied their appeal tenfold. With four of the five tracks here easily surpassing the ten-minute mark, the listener is in for the long haul, yet will not for a second feel dragged along. The elongated coda of ‘…Blues’ possesses an electrifying emotion that rips apart the fabric of the template; while the segue into the bulldozing, YOB-tinged ‘Evacuate!’ pulverises the ears and introduces a rampant, occasionally nasty Jazz-infused groove. Severin Black’s drum pattern following the ominous intro of ‘Shrine of Debauchery’ is simple yet potent, hauling Tary’s terrifying bassline in its wake and setting the tone for the claustrophobia of the swelling, pulsating body.
And this is merely halfway in. The album’s last two tracks cover 33 minutes and crush so comprehensively they create a vacuum, riding and bouncing off planets as they travel along. The beauty of this second slab of vinyl is the paradoxical compatibility between its extremes: the implosive power of ‘Dawncrusher Rising’s opening gambit begins so steadily, growing almost unnoticeably to a gravestone-cracking rut whilst remaining compelling, hypnotic, masterful. The monstrous Blues of closer ‘Implosion Rites’, meanwhile, is Cream slowed to a crawl and delivered by Zeus, Poseidon and Hades: the slowed rhythms fulminating and muscular, the harmonised vocals Ozzy-esque yet resplendent, the pedal effects gradually halting the earth’s rotation.
Quite simply, and to retain the mythical analogy, this is Atlas: utterly despondent, pissed off with his fate, and deciding to fling the planets around after a few beers and a reefer. Rise of the Dawncrusher is fucking incredible, an unmissable masterpiece of both its genre and its times.
9.5/10.0
PAUL QUINN
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Firespawn – Shadow Realms
The concept of the “Supergroup” may date back to the sixties with bands like Cream and Humble Pie, but it’s one which only began to infiltrate the heavier end of the music spectrum in the late ’80s. It wasn’t until Down arrived with NOLA (Elektra) in 1995 that Metal fans started to recognise its increasing validity.
These days, Supergroups have been popping up with such regularity that you can barely get out of bed for tripping over one. The term has also been stretched enough over the years to incorporate smaller bands as well as the more famous names, even reaching into unlikely genre-specific corners such as Black and Death Metal.
Hailing from sunny Sweden, Firespawn (known until recently as Fireborn) consists of guitarists Victor Brandt (Entombed AD) and Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed), bassist Alex Friberg (Necrophobic) and drummer Matte Modin (ex-Dark Funeral). However, it is vocalist L.G. Petrov who will be the most recognisable face, being the long-serving frontman of Death Metal legends Entombed.
Shadow Realms (Century Media) opens with ‘The Emperor’, a track which hisses and boils with pure Blackened Death Metal aggression. Those more at home listening to Petrov’s distinctive “Death’n’Roll” style vocals will be punched squarely in the ears by the bladder-loosening ferocity of his untamed Death Metal roar. The more mid-paced ‘Imperial Burning’ stomps its way across your face next, it’s punishing groove just as effective as the slashing speed of the preceding track. ‘Lucifer Has Spoken’ will be familiar to some listeners as the band originally released it back in August. Another slow to mid-paced affair, a nicely atmospheric chanted Latin section and a great guitar solo make this one of the better tracks on the album.
The unrelenting speed returns with the brutal but fairly forgettable ‘Spirit of the Black Tide’ and is followed by the short acoustic interlude ‘Contemplate Death’. ‘All Hail’ is up next with its big drums and bigger chorus, and things continue forward in a positive, albeit straightforward direction. ‘Ruination’ is all bluff and bluster, however. Fast and aggressive but leaving the memory the moment it finishes, while ‘Necromance’ looks set to be another throwaway track until it suddenly kicks into life halfway through. Bizarrely, ‘Shadow Realms’ is one of the album’s weaker moments. Considering title tracks are so often the lynchpin of a whole album, this one just doesn’t grab you at any point. It’s fast and heavy, but contains nothing to really sink your teeth into.
Instrumentally speaking, the Behemoth-esque ‘Ginnunga’ sounds great, but Petrov’s vocals really don’t do the song justice. Not poorly performed or particularly weak, his voice is just nowhere near as fearsome as it should be for a song like this. Closer ‘Infernal Eternal’ is another decent, if unspectacular cut but it does feature a magnificent played guitar solo, quite probably the best on the album.
Although certainly not a bad record, Shadow Realms is pretty basic, generic stuff which never really pushes itself as far as you would like. It’s ferocious enough, tightly played with a strong production, and there are moments when everything sounds like it’s suddenly going to fall into place and move up a couple of gears. Unfortunately, it never quite does.
7.0/10
GARY ALCOCK
Stubb – Cry Of The Ocean
With the profusion of proto-metal, stoner, psychedelic rock acts about the question is, do we really need another one? Zodiac, Blue Pills, Scorpion Child and a host of others are now joined by Stubb and their second full-length release Cry of the Ocean (Ripple). Everything fuzzed up, riffs repeated ad infinitum and laid back languid vocals it would seem that Stubb have all the ingredients to fit into the psych, blues locker and roll out success.
But there is a problem; at times it seems that all the ingredients are part of a formula. It is only by the time track four, ‘Sail Forever’ kicks in that the sense of individualism comes through, as Jack Dickinson’s vocals rise above his intricate guitar work. The ability to put together such involved work is on display on ‘Heartbreaker’, but Dickinson’s vocal performance this time is reminiscent of an off-key punk doing a ballad during the verses, however, when it kicks in it turns into a good track which displays the potential of the band. Stand-out track ‘Devil’s Brew’ has a sense of purpose to the blues tinged classic rock feel as Christopher West (drums) and Peter Holland (bass) drive the track along, though
Throughout this release there is no doubt of the potential in Stubb; but someone needs to sit them down, take that potential (and musical ability) and slap it into shape. At times they stray into early Pink Floyd, Iron Butterfly and Cream territory so much so that it might be best to take any albums they have of those acts away from them until they can work on their own sound, and Dickinson’s vocals range from bluesy to sounding like Roger Waters giving a lecture on life’s lessons.
Despite these criticisms, what Stubb have produced is a solid album within their chosen genre, with the final two tracks –‘Snake Eyes’ and ‘You’ll Never Know’ – showcasing what they can do when they focus. The space the seven-minutes plus of each track allows is enough to doff a cap at what Stubb might become. Overall, this not a bad release, but has too many flaws to make it an essential part of collections of fans of this type of rock.
5.0/10
JONATHAN TRAYNOR
Blues Pills – Blues Pills
Once in a while a record comes along that knocks you sideways. Once in a while a record comes along that isn’t just about flailing around like dying fish, furiously howling at the injustice of having to tidy your bedroom once in a while. Once in a while a record comes along that reaffirms your faith in the power of exemplary musicianship allied to great songs.
Readers, here is one of those records.
Blues Pills’ self-titled debut album arrives with such self-confidence and chutzpah that you could be forgiven that they had been ploughing this particular furrow of blues rock for decades and were at the peak of their career rather than at the start. Following two EPs released on Kadavar Records (in 2012 and 2013, respectively), a move to Nuclear Blast has seen the band deliver this first full length offering. And what an offering! Blues Pills is not so much the sound of a band stepping up to the plate, it is the sound of a band knocking it out of the proverbial park.
Blues Pills is a brilliant and, at times, sensational record. Right from the off with the throat- grabbing, blues-soaked power of ‘High Class Woman’ through the mellow, folk inspired ‘River’ to the heritage cap-doffin cover of ‘Gypsy’ and the rich, haunting coda of ‘Little Sun’, this is a record with depth and breadth, soul and humanity. Clearly a band in love with Cream and Jimi Hendrix, there is also more than a spoonful of lovin’ here for early Fleetwood Mac both in compositional style and lyrical prowess.
Lead vocalist Elin Larsson has done a terrific job here, simultaneously sounding haunted, passionate and heartfelt. However, all of the band turn in stellar performances, the thumping, soul packed bass-lines of Zack Anderson , the mellifluous drumming of Cory Berry or the patchouli oil soaked guitar licking of Dorian Sorriaux all add up to a heady brew that intoxicates as much as it invigorates.
What truly impresses though is that Blues Pills is more than the sum of its considerable parts. The band have succeeded in creating a record that you can easily and willingly immerse yourself in, a record that understands and curates its heritage and lineage but is fresh, contemporary and massively memorable.
This is the record that you’ll be recommending to your friends for months to come.
9.0/10.0
MAT DAVIES
Blues Pills – Devil Man
Started in 2011 and playing Roadburn last April 2013, Blues Pills are now signed with Nuclear Blast and quickly becoming quite the rising star. With the incredibly powerful, husky vocals by Elin Larsson, the blonde Swedish front Fury of the international quartet, incredible soulful guitar lines by the French youngster Dorian Sorriaux (only just 18) and a rocking, swinging base laid down in bass and drums by the two American initiators of the band Zack Anderson and Cory Berry, it’s a trip back to the birth of music festivals in the late 60’s early 70’s. Devil Man (Nuclear Blast) conjures a sense of a jam between Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Cream.Continue reading