Doomriders "Black Thunder" CD
[Deathwish]
Now this is good shit. I didn't have any mammoth expectations for this thing, but here we have 13 tracks of dingily rock 'n' roll-ified hardcore/punk with absolutely fierce shouting vocals - featuring current and former members of Cast Iron Hike, Converge, There Were Wires, and Hallraker, among others. But don't get the wrong idea, I've already seen a lot of people say that these cats sound like one of two things: 1. Motörhead, or 2. a gimmicky rock band. But in actuality they really don't. Sure, there's a hefty dose of filthy rock 'n' roll in here, and moments could easily be tagged as building off of a Motörhead influence (I'm lookin' at you, "Worthless"), but most of this stuff isn't all that straightforward, even when the songs are short. So is it technical? No, it's not. Again, make no mistake, it's very tightly performed, and what caustic noisiness exists is always kept under strict control, but the song structures and arrangements here simply don't follow the 1, 2, 3, 4 verse/chorus, solo, repeat rock 'n' framework at all. You could just as easily compare moments to Black Flag or Eyehategod, and "Midnight Eye" sounds a shitload like something from the first Danzig record (vocals and all), but the Doomriders don't really sound like any of those bands when all is said and done either. They're heavier and much more outright pissed off than most of that rock stuff (even in the rather basic fist in the air chants of "Listen Up!!"), they're tighter and more penetrating than most of that noisy stuff, and the basic gist of what's going on here is a mishmash of the aforementioned rock 'n' roll via hardcore/punk influences that certainly borrows from the classics, but like any band that actually has brains and balls, they're able to come up with something that looks ahead as much as behind. This doesn't sound like something that came out in the late-70's, nor the early- to mid-80's. It sounds like something that came out in 2005, and yes... it fuckin' rocks your weak ass! Elsewhere, "Ride or Die" opens with ominously pulsing bass and drums before landing on a zippy slab of power chords and chunky picking patterns; more of the same jumps back up in "The Chase", which also cranks out one hell of a fuzzed out lead break; "The Whipcrack" is quick and to the point in its use of mangled discordant post-hardcore textures; and closer "Sirens" is longer and more dynamic in its contrast of emotive melodic riffing and crushing heaviness - the latter of which borders on doom laden levels to some degree. And oddly enough, the longest track is an instrumental: "Voice of Fire", which opens with some clean/slide guitars that take nearly six minutes to wander across a series of dissonant midpaced shifts (both with and without added distortion). Oh, and they actually have a song called "Fuck This Shit", and if you can't stand behind that, you suck. Nicely done. As usual, with Kurt "I know how to turn up the bass guitar" Ballou behind the scenes, the recording rips. It's loud, the textures are appropriately dirty, and I have no complaints. Certain elements have an intentionally dated sounding dryness going on (mainly some of the vocals), but like I said, that retro shit ain't their game here, so the bulk of the mix is thick and nasty. The guitars are heavy as hell but keep a really dingy texture to the distortion, the drums are crisp and natural, the vocals are fighting for space with the music (in a good way), and yes... the almighty bass can be heard pounding ass at all times. Thank you. Seriously, this thing's not super polished, and it sounds great. Visually I'm not really feeling the cover painting for whatever reason, probably because everything else looks totally badass, with shitloads of awesome collages and high contrast illustrations that possess a killer aesthetic that works great throughout. Awesome, awesome shit. Lyrics? "Wandered through the wasteland no skin on your feet early life abandoned spitting out your teeth - take them with you - come too far to turn back revenge will be sweet..." Yep, that'll do it. Sign me up for more of these jams, 'cause I'm into it. Pick this shit up and get the fuck down, motherfuckers! (8/10)
Running time - 45:37, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Ride or Die, Listen Up!!, Midnight Eye, Fuck This Shit, The Whipcrack, Sirens]
Deathwish Inc. - http://www.deathwishinc.com

This review has been displayed 5142 times.