Doom rock. Two words that are designed to strike apathy into my heart like a blunt spoon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of rock and I’m a fan of doom. However, when the two are put together, I generally tend to lose the will to live because I’m just not a fan of the 60s-70s inspired retro rock sound that this marriage generally creates. I pretty much have all the music that I want from that generation to be brutally honest. One look at the album artwork and I feared the worst and after about twenty seconds of the opening title track, these fears were realised. I knew then that I was in for a bumpy ride.
The Mouths Of Madness is the San Francisco quartet’s sophomore full-length recording and debut full-length for Nuclear Blast Records. Unashamedly wearing their Led Zeppelin and early Black Sabbath influences on their collective sleeves, they march forth with nine tracks designed to revel in and pay homage to the great and the good of 70s hard rock.
I have to admit that the output on The Mouths Of Madness is of a very high standard. The mid-tempo, almost metronomic pace allows for some nice chunky riffing and for the almost psychedelic melodies to take the fore. There are moments, such as the mid-section of ‘Nomad’ where the pace is upped to good effect, creating a welcome urgency before slowing again and allowing a lovely, but brief guitar solo to take centre stage. However, for the most part, we’re talking about a tempo that encourages a slow, rhythmic nod of the head, brought to life by an authentic, warm analogue-sounding production.
The addition of a piano in ‘Mountains Of Steel’ is a welcome variation upon the theme, whilst I also rather like the heavily blues-inspired ‘Loving Hand Of God’ which offers a great groove. The most entertaining aspect of this album though is in the vocal department. Theo Mindell is a charismatic front man and his voice soars over the music with a carefree yet mischievous and occasionally sinister edge. On more than one occasion, I find myself drawn in by Mindell’s sermons to the point where I almost lose sight of the music behind him.
Whilst this may not be an album that I will enjoy on a frequent basis due to my personal tastes, anyone with a penchant for some 70s nostalgia needs to check this album out as it will almost certainly tick all the boxes.
7/10
Matt Spall