Kadavar has really cut its teeth on the road since the release of their last record, 2013’s Abra Kadavar. On their first North American trek, they blew Scorpion Child off the stage on what I can only assume was a regular basis, judging by the Toronto show. And their 2014 headlining gig at the Horseshoe was one of the best individual performances I saw last year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another band with just two albums under its belt bust out a 75-minute set!
Perhaps it’s only fitting that after winning over fans across the pond these past couple years, their third album sees them return home, with its somewhat uninspired title. Hey, I guess you can’t blame the guys for being homesick?
Berlin busts out with “Lord of the Sky,” which sounds more like The Who or The Sweet with its meaty, beaty, big and bouncy power chords than the Sabbathian image its moniker bestows. But it’s backed by the Sabbathian stomp of “Last Living Dinosaur,” which even has Lupus doing his best Ozzy impression on vocals. The retro riffs resume on “Thousand Miles Away from Home,” which sounds like one of the heavier cuts from an early Hawkwind record, while the bright, upbeat phrasing of “Filthy Illusion” is kinda like The Kinks, if only they were a proper proto-metal band, and not simply the progenitors of the genre.
I could go on, but perhaps you get the picture. Kadavar takes everything that was great about early 70’s rock and compresses it into a crisp, 47-minute package. If rock ‘n roll still had a mainstream pulse, these guys would be rockin’ junior-hockey barns with Monster Truck by this time next year!
