I had the opportunity to see Saviours live at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin late last year. Unfortunately the band was sandwiched between Sweden’s Witchcraft and Austin’s own The Sword – two bands exploring a similar sound as Oakland, California’s Saviours. In this awfully repetitive live context, Saviours were too much to handle – no matter how high I was and how ready I was to hear some old fashioned riffage, because with The Sword due up, I admittedly turned my back on Saviours' set, choosing to go check out one of the other bands on the diverse festival lineup.
If that live set was anything as impressive as Into Abaddon – the band's Kemado Records debut – I can say just one thing: WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING?!?! This shit is brutal, harder hitting than a cross-face bitch-slap from a big black dildo. Stoned out grooves fueled by fast cars and loose women, Sabbath-loving and Lemmy-inspired, Saviours are four motor heads stuck in the wrong decade and loving every minute of it. The band was born from the ashes of East Bay thrashers Yaphet Kotto but sound nothing like that incredible proto-screamo band. Saviours are good in their own right, without the need to name drop Yaphet Kotto (who also happen to be one of my personal all time faves).
“Raging Embers” kicks off Into Abaddon with an almost Yes like chromatic groove. Like a lot of southern sounding seventies metal, “Embers” shuffles forward in 6/8 time. This can get tiresome after a few songs, but Saviours manages this formula tastefully.
One thing I definitely dig about Saviours' songs is their length – five, six and seven minute stoner metal jams are where it’s at buddy. The closing “Inner Mountain Arthame” is some epic Brit-metal and shows all of the band's talents perfectly. Recommended listening, no doubt.
Austin Barber half-screams, half-chants his vocals, like a drunkard yelling at the night sky before kissing the cold concrete. Barber’s hoarse throat sounds like it’s nursed enough bottles of Jim Beam to give the man a liver aged well beyond it’s years. Fuck it – if it helps you write riffs this brutal, who gives a shit? Party hard.
“Narcotic Sea” begins with fazer-effected guitars panned from one channel to the other, dizzying the listener, before the band drops into some early Metallica thrash. “Cavern of Mind” settles into a groove that’ll make every kid want to be a guitar hero, crushing posers in its wake.
Seven songs deep, Into Abaddon is the perfect length, clocking at just under 40 minutes. That's just enough time for you the really begin to enjoy Saviours post-hardcore meets “New Wave British Metal” sound without wearing you out. Into Abaddon is a stellar effort.
Enjoy a live video for "Cavern of Mind" below:
mp3: Saviors - "Raging Embers"
myspace: www.myspace.com/saviours666
No comments:
Post a Comment