STONE

My first encounter with this hard-drivin' metal band that is currently (according to their Bandcamp bio) working out of Philadelphia. I agree with other reviewers that their album artwork--by band member John Baizley--is outstanding-- some of the best/most entertaining I've seen in the 21st Century!

1. "Embers" (1:01) very interesting and unique album opener! Acoustic guitars with choral vocals--sounding more like The Band or CSN&Y than I expected. (4.5/5)

2. "Last Word" (6:18) chugging metal with psychedelic engineering treatments. Reminds me of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD except on higher octane. You can tell that this is a well-oiled, well-gelled quartet. (I guess all those live performance dates really paid off!) Very interesting sound engineering choices--like with the drums and lead guitar. Less is more and yet the flange is ever-present, sneaking around in the background. Love it! Definitely feels like a blast from the past! Kudos to the team and their engineer/producer to go with these sound engineering choices. A top three song for me. (9/10)

3. "Beneath the Rose" (5:35) this one feels like a kind of TED NUGENT variation on Bono's performance in U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky"--at least for the verses. In the choruses the sound moves into a kind of cross between early URIAH HEEP and METALLICA's "Enter the Sandman." Nice vision and execution! The doubled-up guitar solo feels like a cross between THIN LIZZY and LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The final chorus spills over into Brit-territory--like The Clash or Judas Priest. (8.875/10)

4. "Choir" (4:06) bleeding over from the previous song, the guitars chug along as the continuous-play rolling bass note and straight-time drum race along. The vocals sound like some kind of channel of IGGY POP. I like the more nuanced, intermittent and atmospheric echo-guitar notes in the between-spaces. A very theatric, well-constructed and - executed song. Must be a crowd-pleaser in concert. (8.875/10)

5. "The Dirge" (1:19) another odd snippet that sounds as if it is more likely to come from Americana than metal. (4.3333/5)

6. "Anodyne" (3:20) To a person who's music ears were formed in the 1970s this sound palette sounds so right: none of the processing or compressing that is so common among post-1982 (enter the Computer/ Digital Age) bands and albums. Though this smooth hard rock song is smooth, it must be trying to rely more on its lyrics than previous songs cuz the music is less interesting--with less variation and development than I was expecting. (8.66667/10)

7. "Shine" (6:32) unfortunately, this rather straightforward "heavy metal" song sounds rather dull and elementary. Even the choruses and instrumental passages feel robotic and a bit "dialed-in." (8.5/10)

8. "Magnolia" (7:49) though I've been feeling this VANETA-vibe off and on throughout the course of this album, the opening 2:15 of this one carries a full-fledged imprint of that band. The song goes from waiting-at-the-curb to kick-it- into-gear at the 2:15 mark with some awesome multi-voice harmonic metal vocals over some pretty standard BLUE ÖYSTER CULT-like music. (Even the guitar solo in the sixth minute sounds 1970s). (Did they just say "flaming arrows"?!!) Still: it's a pretty damned-good song. (13.125/15)

9. "Under the Wheel" (6:11) I love the smooth-vocaled opening of this: so much potential energy present here just waiting to be released. And then they do! At 2:58 John Baizley unleashes a wicked-awesome vocal flight path (backed by some important seconds from Gina Gleason). Unfortunately, the song doesn't morph or develop much after that until the awesome spacey-fade. Still here we have another of my top three songs. (9/10)

10. "Bloom" (4:01) a gentle acoustic-guitar based song over which John and Gina sing the lead together, simultaneously, in harmony. Beautiful, smooth, laid-back harmonies. Nicely done. Great vocal performances. My final top three song. (8.875/10)

Total Time 46:12

I'm not sure how this band got categorized "Expeirmental/Post Metal" on ProgArchives cuz this all sounds quite rudimentary and retrogressive; perhaps their previous albums (with which I am unfamiliar) crossed into more experimental "post metal" territory.

Again, I want to commend the band on their choice to "real time"-record and render each song separately and uniquely. Exceptional cojones and will. (It really is so refreshing to hear new music that sounds like the old analog, pre- computer-manipulated music of my youth.)

B+/four stars; an excellent trip down a path that few 21st Century rockers are taking us down. Check it out for yourselves: highly recommended!