Hard, fast, loud, tuneful. When the last track fades you'll check your body for bruises.
Not quite stoner rock, on
'In Voodoo Veritas',
Sparzanza have lifted their huge, heavy rock mothership out of the sludge and the grime and made it fly. And on several handpicked tracks, it soars.
On their fourth album now,
Sparzanza are clearly a battle hardened crew, who've survived in one piece, clutching a bunch of songs forged in the fires of endless touring.
Welding an iron hard guitar, bass and drums sound to spinal injury inducing headbanging rifferama,
Sparzanza step carefully through the murky, post grunge waters of contemporary hard rock and heavy metal, flirting dangerously with hardcore on the way, without actually engaging in consensual sex.
Producer, Richard Lofgren is a key player, lifting each chorus, emphasising each hook on a sturdily reinforced, bass heavy, guitar wall of sound.
The album flows like a force of nature. It may be a river of molten metal, wiping out everything its path, but flow it does.
'The Blind Will Lead The Blind' and '
Black Gemini' are hulking bruisers, with rhythms punching like pistons, hurtling along on a wave of gravity defying riffs and rocket ride vocals.
Vocalist, Fredrik Weileby clearly gargles on grit, growling out the dark, sinister lyrics of songs like '
Methadream' and '
Red Dead Revolver' with purpose and passion.
You could readily make a case that this recording is the best release yet from the band, simply because they have finally shucked off the stoner rock straitjacket of their past, but the truth is much more positive. The songs on this album have the focus and the melodies often lacked on rock and metal albums as intense and driven as
'In Voodoo Veritas'. Go on, take the plunge. The water's fine.
Written by
Brian Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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