REVIEW: WASTED THEORY – DEFENDERS OF THE RIFF (2018)

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Bernard gets wasted and to grips with the riff…..

It becomes apparent during the opening track of ‘Defenders Of The Riff’ that this is very much a Ronseal album, as it does exactly what is says on the tin.

The fact that the opening song is called ‘Get Loud Or Get Fucked’ also gives a serious clue of what lies ahead. It kicks things off in grand style with a real nod to the early 80’s British metal bands mixed with a bit of southern rock and blue collar boogie.  ‘Black Witch Boogie’ follows and musically has a Powerage era AC/DC influence – it’s properly good. ‘Atomic Bikiniwax’ is just what you’d think –  a hybrid of Chris Kosnik’s Atomic Bitchwax with some CoC thrown in. So we are three tracks in and it just hasn’t let up in heaviness and riffing and fourth track ‘Amplifire’ ups the ante in both aspects. Even though it is a slightly slower tempo to the preceding songs, its shuffle tempo seems even heavier and will certainly appeal to fans of bands like Orange Goblin. ‘Gospel Of Infinity’ picks up the pace again and is big on Kyuss and the stoner rock desert sounds of twenty-five years ago.

A can ring-pull being opened starts ‘Belly Fula Whiskey’ and it reminds me of one of my favourite bands, Ohio’s Five Horse Johnson as it’s a little bluesier than the other tracks.  ‘Under The Hoof’ is next and is my favourite track. My earlier reference to Kyuss is not wrong as this track would sit comfortably on albums like ‘Blues For The Red Sun’.  It thunders along with the distortion and fuzz in overdrive; it’s fantastic.

‘…And The Devil Makes Three’, ‘Throttlecock’ and ‘Odyssey Of The Electric Warlock’ close out the album and all three are great and make sure the album stays heavy until the end.

 

The album was first released in 2016 but Italian label Argonauta Records have picked it up and re-released it with two bonus tracks. Both are covers of songs from Alabama Thunderpussy and Nazereth.  Neither were available at the time of the review but they are no doubt suitable companions to the ten self-written songs on the original album.

Wasted Theory are a new band to me, though this is actually their second album. On ‘Defenders Of The Riff’ they have done a grand job of making a hard rock record that celebrates the riff whilst realising that they need songs around them to make the music memorable. In my opinion it’s a job well done and the album is well worth checking out.

 

8/10

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