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| Artwork by Sara-Jane Swettenham. |
Sergeant Thunderhoof couldn’t possibly have anticipated they’d be releasing Terra Solus mere weeks after stoner metal godfathers Sleep dropped their first album in over a decade with no advance warning. It’s a good thing, then, that it's so good. Drawing more from the Kyuss side of stoner metal than Sleep’s woozy mantras, Sergeant Thunderhoof show stoner metal takes more than killer fuzz, big riffs, and an Orange stack but those certainly help.
Eschewing the progressive trappings bands like Dvne and Elder have embraced, Sergeant Thunderhoof deliver straightforward stoner metal with a dash of psychedelia, for a sound straight out of Palm Desert. Rather than showcasing skill with complex song structure, or lofty concept albums (two things I do so love) they inject their straightforward attack with subtle touches that set them far ahead of the usual “dusty dudes with a riff” desert rock. Like Kyuss before them, they refuse to be pigeonholed into a single sound, delivering varied, impeccably composed songs that always come back to the riffs, but don't live or die by them.
While the songs are rooted in huge fuzzy guitar riffs, the fuzz itself sounds different from other bands. Mark Sayer’s tone splits the different between the smooth fuzz of an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi and the razor-edged Boss Hyper Fuzz. The fuzzed out riffs often twist and turn in unexpected ways playing on expectations of bluesy stoner rock riffs and trading off with the bass to keep the momentum going through solos. The axes are underscored by phenomenal drumming that drives the grooves along and fills the spaces with interesting accents and rhythms, one of my favourites being a penchant for double kick rolls into phrases. The band delivers on both fast rockers and slow jams with their straightforward tunes belying a complexity that only reveals itself if you want to look for it over repeated listens. The more I listen to it, the more I like it and the more I can't stop listening to it.
To top it all off the vocals are fantastic. Vocals often get de-emphasized in metal, but many of my favourite bands are set apart by their vocals. “Half a Man”, the album’s penultimate track, show the band know what they’ve got in their vocalist, giving him a showcase accompanied only by dreamy clean guitar. It’s a stunner. Dan Flitcroft’s range of styles throughout the album is huge from thin and Ozzy-like, to a whiskey-soaked growling croon and full-throated singing layered with vocal harmonies reminiscent of ASG’s Jason Shi, all of it perfectly executed and chosen to complement the songs.
Thankfully, Terra Solus features excellent production to match the music. The master is a bit less dynamic than their last outing, “Ride of the Hoof” at DR 7 instead of DR 9, but it’s dynamic enough that everything comes through clearly and the drums and bass have a nice “thump” to underscore the fuzzy riffs.
With Terra Solus, Sergeant Thunderhoof show how stoner metal is done. I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard a Kyussian stoner metal album this good. Even without the “Name your Price” pricepoint it’s absolutely essential listening.
