Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Stoner/Desertrock | Heft: Jahrgang 2014, eclipsed Nr. 163 / 9-2014 | VÖ-Jahr: 2014 | Wertung: 8/10 | Label: Napalm | Autor: NM
With plenty of dirt, but also some filigree nuances, the first Steak longplayer booms out of the speakers. The ten songs on "Slab City" are unmistakably oriented towards Stoner greats like Kyuss or Monster Magnet. In addition there is the passion for stoically, almost phlegmatically performed endless lava riffs, as one is accustomed to from Karma To Burn. Not that the four young gentlemen from London would reinvent the genre. Instead, they succeed in sounding out boundaries within the classical framework and setting tracks that could not necessarily have been expected. So while the guitars are drifting darkly and repeatedly flirting with sludge-prone soundscapes, there are some surprises around the corner every now and then. For example in the form of gripping breaks and melodies like in the second track "Liquid Cold". Towards the end, the British, whose sound structure inevitably recalls Californian deserts, even play their humorous side. All in all a dark steam hammer with bright moments, which not only Stoner purists will like.
Top track: Liquid Cold
