It’s gonna be awfully hard to avoid peppering this review with all the pugilistic puns that are bouncing around in my bearded brain like blind bats, what with the album title and the fact that Danko Jones comes screaming out of the corner in this particular fight with – if you can believe it – more attitude than ever before, spittin’ and snarlin’ about what has become his rock n’ roll raison d’être: broads, break-ups, bad thoughts, and bullish bravado. So I’ll just go with it because it’s as if there’s a whole new law that needs layin’ down, man, and the only person that’s got balls big enough to do it is ol’ Mr. Jones himself (with the help of misters Calabrese and Cornelius, naturally). He’s the world heavyweight champion, see, and while there’s been plenty of times he’s floated like a butterfly, he’s at his best when he stings like a bee. And brother, the hive is buzzing like a blown amp and somebody needs to pay.
Yeah, that’s right, Vancouver’s Bison B.C.’s new album, Dark Ages, kicks off with horns, and I’m not just talking about goat horns or Devil horns, son. No, I’m talking about French horns and trumpets, and if you think that kind of high brow musicianship seems unusual coming from a stoner metal band, you’d be right. Here’s the thing, though. Bison B.C. don’t sound like a stoner metal band so much anymore and that bit with the horns is just their way of channeling the war cry of a battle hymn and the death and darkness of a funeral dirge into a growling, seven song assault of angry riffs and underworld anarchy. Where Earthbound and Quiet Earth held us on this particular plane in the raw n’ strong grip of a thick-chested, heavy-bearded mountain man, Dark Ages now binds our hands and feet with snakes and drags us down into the ash and brimstone of Hell’s half acre so we can do Satan’s evil bidding. As heavy and black as this album is, however, it’s still the product of slackers (I mean that in the best possible way), and as such it’s not without its tongue-in-cheek moments (“Melody, This is For You”), its alcoholic allegiance (“Two-Day Booze”), and the continuation of the Wendigo saga (“Wendigo Pt. 3 [Let Him Burn]”). So, yeah, it’s a bit of a dark departure for Bison B.C. this time around, but that just means they now sound like High on Fire with twin guitars, and that’s pretty fucking awesome.
Listen to/watch a not-so-great sounding version of “Two-Day Booze” from Dark Ages!
Danko Jones
Bison B.C.