This Swedish trio, Kamchatka, is best known for touring with Clutch, collaborating with Clutch (J.P. Gaster appears on a couple of their albums) and hell, even sorta sounding like Clutch. So if you like Clutch, keep reading…
Their fifth album is somewhat shorter than previous efforts, offering 10 tracks in about 41-and-a-half minutes. “Somedays” kicks it off with some bluesy guitar riffing, building up into a solid mid-paced stomp. Not sure if Gaster guests on this track, but the drumming is pretty frantic, throwing in snare rolls all over the place.
“Tango Decadence” has a sunnier disposition, a constantly alternating riff with some hand claps thrown in for good measure. “Son of the Sea” sounds like vintage 70s rock, with a bass-driven verse giving way to some tasty old-style chorus riffage. “Pressure” is the longest song here at a shade over five minutes, and also the most Clutcherrifc, with a riff right off the bat that recalls Tim Sult. Mind you, they slow things down from there — as they seemingly do on most of the songs on this record — before building back up for a riff-heavy chorus, then chucking in some bizarrely Rush-sounding progressive passages outta nowhere.
All in all, this ain’t too shabby, but I gotta say, Clutch would probably mix things up a bit more.
(Despotz)
