When Sweat Lodge opened for Monolord in Toronto last year, some people were saying these guys could be the next The Sword, i.e. the next big heavy-rock band from Texas. (Turns out that might actually be Mothership.) Alas, twas not to be, as this four-track, 16-minute effort marks the band’s swansong—their farewell EP, so to speak.
The opening track finds them in a reflective state, as “Life Goes On” offers up a dreary, droning cosmic jam, somewhat akin to Dead Meadow or Quest For Fire, before taking a bit of a Sabbathian turn around the 1:45 mark, with vocals that almost out-Ozzy the Ozzman himself. “Lost the Sun” sounds even sleepier, which shades of Pink Floyd in its overly reverbed vocal approach.
The band chucks in an obligatory ZZ Top cover—pretty sure there’s an unwritten rule that every heavy rock band outta Texas must cover Zee Zee Top—with “Precious and Grace,” and it’s actually the best song on this record, putting the best of Texas heavy blues tradition on display with just a slightly updated take. The title track ain’t too shabby, either, with a winding blues riff bringing us into a pretty decent stop-start attack. It ain’t no ZZ Top tune, though…
