By Gruesome Greg
Wino is the man. There aren’t many other doom metal musicians who could put out a solo acoustic album I’d actually wanna hear, but I did quite enjoy some moments of Adrift, his previous effort. That said, it’s good to hear the man plugged in again, fronting his fifth power trio (by my count).
The opener “B_E_A_U_T_Y” is a mellow, melodic piece reminiscent of his solo work (both unplugged and plugged-in) that gets a good shot in the arm a la The Hidden Hand about halfway through. “Hard to Say” shows shades of The Obsessed in the signature hazy guitar smoke that Wino knows so well.
Things get a little preachy at times, with “Clay Pigeons” taking a confrontational tone over a funk-blues rhythm—while also taking time out for an extended solo. But “La Hechicera de la Jeringa” opens with a riff that fell straight from the doom tree and hit every branch on the way down—and there’s a couple more where that came from. “Modern Man” offers up another big barrel of pure-grain riffage. This is what it’s all about, right here!
Maybe I’m crazy, but “Deranged Rock ‘n Roller” sounds a little like Motorhead, Wino taking a page outta Lemmy’s playbook. Takes one to know one, I suppose. Anyways, this record adds another solid chapter to a long and storied career. Wino is God.
(Volcom)
