Although it’s been kicking around for awhile now, Black Pyramid’s second full-length isn’t slated for an official release until the end of January, but I didn’t even think there was going to be a II given some of the band’s cryptic postings about their demise. Truth be told, I thought they were done, and I still don’t know what the real story is, but lo and behold the band lives, and it just turns out that singer/guitarist Andy Beresky is out, having been replaced by Darryl Shepard of Milligram, Hackman, and Blackwolfgoat fame. However, II‘s hollow steamroller is driven by the original line-up, so consider this your final chance to hear Beresky lead Black Pyramid’s doom machine right into the Earth’s crust and dust. Which is exactly what he does, as Black Pyramid’s signature, banner-flying, fuzzy charge storms the gates of Hades heads down and helmets first. Black Pyramid have always found a home in the fire, and II is certainly no exception; in fact, they appropriate it so damn well that they’ve grown confident enough to spread their blazing wings and fly uncommon patterns, especially on the folksy “Tanelorn” and the album’s two epics, “Dreams of the Dead” and “Into the Dawn.” While “Endless Agony,” “Mercy’s Bane,” “Night Queen,” “Sons of Chaos,” and “The Hidden Kingdom” deliver the familiar Sleep-on-speed thunder we’ve come to expect from Black Pyramid, the band does add a bunch of energized riffs, nasty solos, and tempered breakdowns into the mix, making this effort ambitious and quite successful. There sure is a shit ton of heavy coming out of Massachusetts these days, and only time will tell if Black Pyramid will continue to play a giant part in that with Shepard at the helm (there’s no reason to think they won’t). And what of Beresky? He’s too good to stay down for long, you can count on that.
Bad-ass name, bad-ass cover art, and bad-ass Bristol stoner sleaze that ought to make Turbowolf the new underground “it” band. Their self-titled full-length debut follows a 4-song EP released last year (three quarters of which appears on this one), and it’s a madcap attack of pure rock fury that’s damn near impossible to pin down. Turbowolf is at once exceptionally heavy and catchy, which is a deadly combination when the majority of it is delivered in two-and-a-half minute spurts, but the crux of this crushing crusade lies in its nasty energy, a sweat bomb of ultra-hip, greasy electricity. Because of songs like “Ancient Snake,” “Bag O’ Bones,” and “A Rose for the Crows,” and the fact that singer Chris Georgiadis’ acerbic snarl will remind you of Chad Cherry, Turbowolf has a tendency to present itself as The Last Vegas leading Kyuss on a midnight run through burnt down planetariums, but then you hear “Seven Severed Heads,” “Son (Sun),” and “All the Trees” and you don’t know what the hell to think. But that’s the beauty of Turbowolf, such as it is, and at the end of the day they’re the kind of living thing Motörhead has been known to take on tour in order to expose (and feed off of) their rag n’ roll attitude.
Check out the video for “A Rose for the Crows” from Turbowolf!
Infernal Overdrive Last Rays of the Dying Sun
Small Stone
Discovering that Boston hero* Marc Schleicher has surfaced as the front man for New Jersey rock n’ road warriors Infernal Overdrive is one hell of an early Christmas present, my friends. Hell, I’m not sure I’d be here today if it wasn’t for Schleicher’s brawlin’ brand of East Coast riff n’ roll, so to hear him once again stranglin’ the six-string like a twenty dollar hooker is something special; a sure sign that the wheel of the American rawk machine is back in the grip of one of its most prolific drivers. Last Rays of the Dying Sun, the band’s full-length debut, is, quite simply, arena rock for dive bars, like KISS or Cheap Trick on a chain link tour through Southern wilds, and the way they saturate it with razor-backed hooks, sky high solos, nasty drum fills, and blacktop lingo (“I-95,” “Electric Street Cred,” “Rip It Out,” “Motor”) will lead a man to submit himself to a life of drinkin’, cheatin’, lyin’, and dyin’. Or, if you prefer, a life of glory. You know, I don’t think this one actually comes out until 2012, but either way, Small Stone has finished this year off — or started the next — on a definite high note.
*I’m not from Boston, but I have spent many years there vicariously through people much cooler than me, and I would be utterly shocked to find out that anyone who played in Cracktorch, Antler, and Quintain Americana isn’t a hero in that town.
Listen to “Rip It Out” from Last Rays of the Dying Sun!
Black Pyramid
Turbowolf
Infernal Overdrive