Album Reviews
PAIN OF SALVATION
BE
(Inside Out)
If you think ambition is lacking in rock music, check out Swedish prog band Pain of Salvation's BE. Bandleader Daniel Gildenlöw concerns himself on this concept album with no less than the origin of God, the purpose of man and the circle of life. He even includes a reading list for those inclined to follow his train of thought. Frankly, the subject matter is simply too big for one album, regardless of the humanizing storyline in which Gildenlöw wraps his concepts. Of course, you can enjoy the expansive music (which tones the group's metallisms WAY down) without copping to the themes. It's telling, though, that the most compelling track is "Vocari Dei," messages to God from the band's fans (left on an answering machine) that range from hilarious to heartwrenching. Michael Toland [buy it]
ROSETTA WEST
X Descendant
(Alive)
The Midwest power trio Rosetta West basically plies its trade in the trenches of 70s-style blues rock, but likening them to, say, Foghat would be a mistake. Sure, Joseph Demagore's husky voice was made to moisten undies, and lines like "washing down whiskey with a bottle of wine" indicate a certain low-rent decadence. But this band's rockers ("Shine," "Blue Honey") and ballads ("Children," "Deeper Than Magic") don't fit any more comfortably under a 70s-revival tent than they do in the woodshed with the White Stripes or the Black Keys. Demagore and co. hack their own path into the blues rock jungle (dig the psychedelic slide guitar ambiance of "Return to Inferno"), and isn't finding your own self-expression what the blues is all about? Michael Toland [buy it]
RTX
Transmaniacon
(Drag City)
When slop rock beast Royal Trux disintegrated, I imagine most aficionados put their money on instrumentalist Neil Hagerty to carve a significant career out of the kindling. So Transmaniacon, his partner Jennifer Herrera's new album under the RTX moniker, must come as something of a surprise. It shouldn't; she was as integral a part of the Trux as Hagerty, she's also moving the Trux legacy forward here. Adding elements of 80s sleaze metal to the original mix of blues, arena rock and scuzz-ridden noise, the nicotine-voiced Herrera and her collaborators conjure up a hooky plague of rock & roll ghosts. Scrape the grime off filth-encrusted tunes like "Speed to Roam," "Joint Chief" and "Low Ass Mountain Song" and you'd have tough but accessible rock & roll. But why would you want to do that? Taking a shower after listening to Transmaniacon is half the fun. Michael Toland [buy it]
SHARK QUEST
Gods and Devils
(Merge)
Instrumental music is held to a different standard than other formats, and we don't have to ask why. With none of those pesky verbal queues to get in the way, we listeners are left to extract meaning from the songs without the benefit of narration. The songs of Gods and Devils, from North Carolina's Shark Quest, are fully fleshed out and, therefore, um, full. The band concocts a stew of influences from bluegrass and western folk to surf guitar-driven songs. Given the range of genres, it's no surprise that Gods and Devils serves up a little something for everyone in terms of tone, moving from blue to celebratory without a missed beat. Lance Looper [buy it]
THE SUMMER PEOPLE
Verge of a Breakdown
(Garage D'or)
Apparently over the last year or so Minneapolis' Summer People discovered its inner boogie chillun. The band's second album Verge of a Breakdown pushes most of the acid rock excess of its debut to the background and concentrates on lean, no-bullshit hard rock. That's pretty funny, since point man Clayton Klein's skinny yawp ain't any more suited to beer-soaked rock & roll than it is to psychedelia. Which, I'm guessing, is at least partly the point. Regardless, "Alright," "Whiskey Bottle" and "Blinded By the Sun" (on which guitarist Aaron Robertson rediscovers the Pink Floydian psych muse) rock like your mama on a trucker's speed bender. And that's pretty hard. Michael Toland
THIRDIMENSION
Permanent Holiday
(Hidden Agenda)
What little reputation Sweden's Thirdimension has is as some sort of second-rate version of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. While 3D shares some important influences with TSOOL, it's definitely got its own identity, as Permanent Holiday proves. Bjorn Stegmann and his mates don't wear their 60s/70s influences on their sleeves quite as boldly, playing up the contemporary British pop angle; plus they rock balls-out less often. Regardless of whether the group is a homage to its better-known countrymen or not, tunes like the dreamy "Save Me," the tasty "Last Real People," the dramatic "The Only Healer" and the pounding "Ex-Song" make Thirdimension a great band in its own right. Michael Toland [buy it]
VÄSEN
Keyed Up
(Northside)
So many folk groups, no matter what their origins, exist only to embalm standards under the banner of "keeping the tradition alive." No so Sweden's Väsen, who know that to truly make the folk tradition breathe you have to add to it. Thus Keyed Up, a set of all-original instrumental tunes for guitar, Swedish bouzouki, fiddles and nyckelharpa (the many-keyed bowed instrument that's a staple of Nordic folk music). Fast tunes and slow waltzes nuzzle each other while strings, bows and picks get taken for a ride. And let's not forget the polskas, the Scandinavian version of the polka, which pack more energy than a rat high on radioactive cheese. Väsen rocks, even though technically it doesn't. Michael Toland [buy it]
WINTERSUN
Wintersun
(Nuclear Blast)
Finnish metal veteran Jari Mäenpää's new project Wintersun connects the dots of his past projects into a big, bombastic ball of widescreen heaviosity. Power metal grandeur, progressive metal technicality and black metal attitude join hands and dance a naked fairy circle around Mäenpää's surprisingly melodic songs. The multi-instrumentalist shifts from a cannonfire rasp to a melodramatic croon as it suits the tunes, and, except for a few speed-demon guitar solos, keeps instrumental excess to a minimum. (As much as you can with music this deliberately over-the-top, anyway.) Wintersun is a veritable blizzard of frosted metal goodness. Michael Toland [buy it]
YOB
The Illusion of Motion
(Metal Blade)
If YOB isn't the pride of Eugene, Oregon, it should be. The trio's third album The Illusion of Motion is four tracks and an hour's worth of flowing, throbbing, stomping, oozing metal sludge. Like the old sci-fi/horror beastie the Blob, just when you think it's no threat due to drowning in its own inertia, a slimy tendril snaps out and sucks up your spleen. Tempos shift like tectonic plates drift, without warning, but with a sense of direction. Frontguy Mike Scheidt screeches like a helium junkie one minute, then roars like a wounded carnivore the next. Riffs caress, smother and lacerate. Everything is shaken down until it crunches. Don't worry, it all makes sense in the aftermath. Michael Toland [buy it]
