Hot Cakes - The Darkness

Hot Cakes – The Darkness

British rockers make their long awaited return

                Jump in your DeLorean and travel back to the magical time of 2003, Peter Jackson finished making cinematic gold with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The world was introduced to Captain Jack Sparrow and a certain rock n roll band from Suffolk where destroying anything in their path, winning multiple Kerrang and Brit awards and coming second to the most depressing Christmas number one of all time. This band was The Darkness, their album Permission to land  was a massive part of my childhood and I (like many people of my age) consider it to be a modern classic, with tunes like I Believe in a thing called love, Black Shuck and Growing on me which are as good as any songs created by the original hair metal bands. Sadly after 2005’s One way ticket to Hell and back, which was really an album of two halves, first half being easily as good as the debut containing anthems such as the unforgettable Is it just me? But the second half of the album of the album was overblown and flabby. The less said about it the better. The band parted ways in 2007. The rest of the group (minus Justin) formed the good but not spectacular Stone Gods, whilst Justin decided against blowing coke up his nose and decided to just blow in his new and diabolical band Hot Leg. The band reunited in 2011 and received critical acclaim for their tour featuring a lucrative main support slot at the Download Festival. Apparently reinvigorated, the band began work on the tricky third album Hot Cakes.

The album see’s a return of the spontaneous fun of the first album, it sounds like the band are really enjoying themselves again allowing their personalities to become ever present especially on the second single Everybody have a good time and the added charisma of Concrete makes the track stand out from the rest and shows The Darkness were not just a flash in the pan. The Queen influence is as ever plastered all over this album in its production and song structure, the track Nothings gonna stop us could easily have appeared on A Night at the Opera with its layered harmonies and over the top bombastic production. From start to finish Hot Cakes is exactly what you would expect from The Darkness that is until track 10 hits which is a cover of Radiohead’s Street Spirit (fade out). The Darkness covering Radiohead? That’s as bizarre as Lou Reed doing an album with Metallica (oh shit I forgot that happened). Unlike that abomination the group pull off this unlikely cover adding Justin’s typical high pitched falsetto vocals and a heavier guitar tone. The album however does contain a few songs which kill the records pace and momentum especially the pointless and generally flabby ballad Forbidden love and even though the album does contain some really good songs none of them hit the heights of I Believe in a Thing Called Love or in the same league as tracks from Permission to Land.

Overall, Hot Cakes is a decent return to form for the group. They’ve stuck to what they know best and delivered exactly what their fans would want from them, With the Radiohead cover a side the album is exactly what you thought you would get from this album and for most of it the band live up to their reputation for delivering kick ass Rock N Roll anthems. It seems the band are here to stay and I for one am happy to have them back.

Rating: - 7/10

Stand out track:- Concrete

For fans of :- Queen, ACDC, Thin Lizzy

The Hunter - Mastodon

The Hunter by Mastodon

Atlanta’s metal behemoths do it again!

                “I killed a man because he killed my goat” bellows drummer and vocalist Bran Dailor. From this line alone you can probably tell Mastodon are a band who aren’t afraid of pushing the the boat out with there lyrics and musical ability or showing there influences through there music. There new release “The Hunter” shows that the band have continued to experiment but haven’t forgotten their heavy metal roots.

Since their inception in 1999, Sludge metal kings Mastodon have produced four critically acclaimed albums which any classic metal band would be proud to have in their discography.  2003 brought their sludge metal classic debut “Remission”, their next album “Leviathan proved there was more to Mastodon then just riffs heavier than a heard of elephants, they could write excellent songs as well, the album spawned the bands first single “Blood and Thunder” and earned the band the prestigious award of Terrorizer magazines album of the year award. Leviathans follow up “Blood Mountain” allowed Mastodon to branch out from their sludge metal roots and incorporate more stoner rock influences; widely considered to be their breakout album earning the band their first Grammy nomination for the track “Colony of Birchman” the track contains a surprising guest appearance from ex Kyuss guitarist and current Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.  Finally Mastodon released their critically acclaimed fourth album “Crack the Skye”; on this release the band branched out further by incorporating progressive rock sound scapes, ambient keyboards with cleaner vocal and clean guitar tones. However the band didn’t forget their roots, balancing their new progressive rock direction with their huge riffs and brutal cookie monster vocals. Drummer Brann Dailor dedicated the release to his sister “Skye” who passed away when he was young.

                After playing a storming set at this summers Sonisphere festival, where for my money they wiped the floor with everyone who played on the Sunday.  Every member of the metal community from black metal fans to hardcore fans was waiting for their first fix of the new album. Many expected Mastodon to pursue a more progressive direction on this album, following on from their previous album which was influenced heavily by Pink Floyd/ Rush. However, they couldn’t have been more wrong. On their new album Mastodon have allowed all there influences to flourish, on this album you can clearly hear that Mastodon have been influenced by bands from a Sludge metal background like Neurosis, Progressive  rock bands such as Rush and Stoner rock bands such as Kyuss . The result is an album which sounds as if it was a Mastodon greatest hits compilation. Whatever part of Mastodons discography you like there is a part of this album you will love, whether it’s the brutality of “Remission” and “Leviathan” then there are tracks like Blasteroid and Black tongue which could fit in seamlessly on either of those albums. Or if you prefer the strong song writing which was included on “Blood Mountain”, there are tracks such as Curl of the Burl and All the heavy lifting which could easily be placed in heavy rotation on rock/metal radio stations across the world or even play listed on radio one’s a list (yes the chorus’s are that huge and catchy). Even if you preferred the progressive elements of their progressive masterpiece “Crack the Skye” there are tracks such as the title track which contains a guitar tone and guitar parts the legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour would have been proud to have written. Or the opening to Octopus has no friends where Dailor pays homage to the legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart.

Most fans will have already seen the bizarre (yeah really bizarre) video for the albums debut single Curl of the Burl. Most fans however will be surprised to learn that although the single is a terrific song, containing an amazing riff (which some critics have already claimed to be “this generations Enter Sandman”) it is not one of the albums stand out tracks. That honour goes to Octopus has no friends, from its breathing taking drum opening, to the tracks surrealist lyrics and its haunting vocal harmonies which flow effortlessly through the song.

                Ultimately, this is a album which not only can stand up to the bands already impressive back catalogue but also take the Pepsi challenge with any band in contemporary metal, whether that be Machine Head, Lamb of God or even Metallica.  These tracks can easily be placed in the live set and sound as huge and power as tracks from the previous four albums. If they continue to produce classic metal albums to the standard of Crack the Skye and The Hunter, Mastodon could easily be the next band to headline a major festival such as Download and Sonisphere. 

Rating:- 9/10

Influenced by :- Neurosis, Rush, Metallica

Also Try:- Blackwater Park :- Opeth

The Blue Album :- Baroness

Blues for the Red Sun: :- Kyuss