“The name of the album could also be seen as direct reference to our own career, and the dream of owning our own private island in the Pacific. Unfortunately the masses have yet to develop good taste in music, so that dream is rather non-existent at this time.”
Bokassa 2024
.
Which may or may not be true. However, I love the band and I’ve still got a bone to pick with them – and it’s this. I was trying to explain to a friend of mine, how good they were and asked Android CarPlay to play a track Using Google Assistant, maybe it’s my Brummie accent but whatever it wasn’t having it and I had to pull over to the side of the road after about 45 tries.
That all being said, whether they’ve got mass appeal or not, the Norwegians are absolutely sensational there, is no getting away from it. and their third album is no different.
“The Ending Starts Today” is typical Bokassa if such a thing exists. Energy, groove. Wit. Its all here.
And that’s what they do. The first line of “Garden Of Heathen” and the title itself is worth it, offers that “I read my future, that shit looked bleak”, but in typical contrary fashion, that might be the one with Lou Koller (“Sick Of It All) on but it’s “Straight Edgelord” that sounds hardcore – a fact that it can’t resist taking the piss out of, as if it’s delighted to catch you out.
Then there’s this: “Thank God for Kid Rock, the only reason I survived
‘Bawidaba, tattooed on request
“No more Chain of strength, I got Cowboy on my chest”.
This might be the greatest verse in the history of rock n roll, because right wing Herbert he might be, but yer boy Ritchie has got some bangers, and unlike Bokassa I’m not clever enough to be ironic.
In fact, there’s a very real chance that Bokassa might be deranged. Take the title track, it starts with some 80s keyboards, then moves onto the thought that: “So I’m fighting my demons with excalibur, and I´m not going back again,
I got an AK47 and a battle vest on me, and here’s hoping my friend.”
What with all the use of language (and its sensational, no one writes lyrics like this) its easy to forget perhaps that the Norwegians are a brilliant metal band. Their groove, their riffs, and their delivery, is right up there. As, in fact, “Bradford Death Squad” which features Aaron Beam (Red Fang) proves.
Drummer Olav Dowkes gets his moment in the sun on “Let’s Storm The Capitol”, which goes from thrash to Volbeat and back again.
And if you have ADHD then Bokassa are the boys for you. “Everyone Fails In The End” is 45 seconds of filth and fury, while the stunning “Gung Ho From The Get Go” nails arena rock.
The heaviest things “…Dreams” has to offer are its last two. The Thrasher, “No More Good Days” with its Anthrax-like bass, while “Crush (All Heretics)” has a touch of Slayer about it – and you suspect deliberately.
Indeed, although it’s tempting to ask if the real Bokassa will stand up that would be to miss the point. This is the real Bokassa, they are the real deal and whilst in an ideal world they would already be on a Pacific island, we don’t live in the real world so they may have to settle, for being one of those bands that if you get you get.
The reality is though, that “All Out Of Dreams” is another wonderful record from a wonderful band and if you can get Google Assistant to play their music you’re a better man than me.
Rating 9/10
