I believe this is album number five from Pacific Northwest vets Mos Generator, who’ve been kicking around — and old school — since the dawn of the new millennium. Their sound certainly takes you back more than 15 years, more like 40, to the good ol’ days of vintage rock ‘n’ roll.
“Beyond the Whip” comes groovin’ out of the gate, delivering the retro-rock vibes of a band like Blood from the Sun, with some tasty stop-start riffage leading us into a chorus that feels like Fu Manchu. “Nothing Left But Night” lays down another catchy chorus, harkening back to the day when a good hard-rock hook still mattered. That said, tis another up-tempo stomper that brings Mothership to my mind… and I loves me some Mothership! Hell, I’m even getting a little Leaf Hound “Freelance Fiend” here.
“Enter the Fire” opens with cello, and I totally didn’t see that coming. Tony Reed channels Dave Wyndorf’s laid back drawl as the cello continues to replace the bass as a rhythmic instrument. And man, I know I’ve already mentioned the memorable choruses, but this one really soars. This has gotta be the best song about entering fire since Dokken’s “Into the Fire.”
“Spectres” lays on the doom and gloom pretty heavy, while “Neon Nightmare” is less Black Sabbath, more Black Pyramid, “Visions of Gehenna” dancing in my head with that big fuzzy, winding, slithering riff. “Early Mourning” is about as bleak as you’d expect from a song with that name, as the transformation from classic rock to traditional doom is pretty much complete… until the title track kicks things up-tempo again, albeit with the sorta doomy grooves you’d hear from mid-90s Cathedral.
Man, this album started off as one thing, and ended as something else. It’s sorta like having steak for dinner and lobster for dessert… and I loves me some lobster!
