One riff to rule them all…..actually lots of riffs but go with it
Consider this word: Riffborn.
Not actually in the Collins English dictionary, nor – unfortunately – is it a new character in Game Of The Thrones (although god knows it should be) so we are going to have a go at writing a definition of it.
Riffborn: adj. Means to exist only to establish the mighty power of the riff. The greatest, biggest, fatest wall of guitar known to man. See also: a song on the new album from Wo Fat.
And never has song been better named.
The sixth album, by our count anyway, from Dallas guitar slingers Wo Fat, is so choc full of them, in fact, that you are tempted to recall that album by The Wildhearts “Riff After Riff After Motherfucking Riff.”
The whole thing is predicated on the simple idea that music is, well, simple, and is merely complicated by people who don’t understand that there’s no need for anything that isn’t cool. Throughout the seven tracks here – and not just the incredible “Riffborn” – it is tempting to imagine the band in the studio saying “more guitar, more I tell you” because it’s only that way, surely that a song like the ten minute tour de force “Of Smoke And Fog” occurs, it’s only that way, dammit, that something as wonderful as “There’s Something Sinister In The Wind” happens, and it’s only those truly inducted into the way of the riff that could come up with something as primal and viscerally thrilling as “Three Minutes To Midnight”, which might be sixty seconds before Iron Maiden, but shows even Eddie And The Boys a thing or two about dirty arsed biker fun.
Hell, they even find the time to chuck together something called “Nightcomer” at the end which not only sounds like the coming of the apocalypse, but moreover that it would enjoy laying waste to both you and everything you hold dear.
MVM is boring on the subject of trio’s we know, but we don’t care. If three was the magic number for ZZ Top, Motorhead, early Thin Lizzy and Rush, then we defy you tell us that trio’s don’t always rule.
A more pertinent question is just how the bloody hell three men make music that sounds this mighty? The fact is we don’t know. Just be grateful Wo Fat do, and in the shape of “Midnight Cometh” they’ve rather neatly perfected the art.
And if that’s not enough for you, then consider this. The man playing the riffs is called Kent Stump, and that alone makes Wo Fat cooler than you.
Rating 9.5/10
