JUSTIN’S ROCK REVIEWS W/C 11/6/07

 

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE / ERA VULGARIS

 

When an established band like The Queens get to their 5^th album they usually play it safe, keep the fans happy and don’t rock the boat, not Queens Of The Stone Age, in fact they have done exactly the opposite, this album is their most experimental, off the wall yet and its more the better for it.

 

The album is full of paradox’s, the songs seem simpler but are more complex, more experimental but very commercial, the very antithesis of what you come to expect but so good to listen to, the prime example of this being the track “Sick, Sick, Sick” a song with one chord, very little melody to the point of being monotonous but so damn catchy you cant help but sing along. It’s not just the songs they have experimented with, its the structure, production and sound of them as well and maybe its this that makes this CD such a good one to listen to because you never know what to expect next.

 

This is to my ears the best QOTSA album yet and I dare say there will be a few hits on here, “3’s & 7’s” being the first but not the last, also listen out for; “River In The Road”, “Suture Up My Future”, “Into The Hollow”, “Battery Acid” and the quirky but excellent “Make It Wit Chu”, if this is not a hit single my name is not Justin Case another excellent album of the week on my HFM show.

 

WEBSITE      http://www.queensofthestoneage.com/

 

TOTAL PLAYING TIME = 55 mins + 13 Stunning TRACKSA

 

ENTOMBED / SERPANT SAINTS

 

Its been a year since the Sodom E.P. came out but at long last the new album is here and thankfully they are on to form, their unique brand of Rot & Roll is steeped with the smell of death and decay and we wouldn’t have them any other way.

 

The CD kicks off in fine style with the title tracks that starts off with an acoustic guitar but don’t worry the Swedes haven’t gone sort on us, just lulling you into a false sense of security before launching the death blow, this is swiftly followed by “Masters Of Death” which is a tribute to Death Metal and mentions quite a few bands including a name check for Napalm Death, it has a killer riff and the drives along like their lives depend on it. The track “Kingdom Come” is just as good and “War, Plague, Famine, Death” is Entombed at their best, they haven’t sounded as good as this for a decade and that’s good news to the die hard fan.

 

A fine return to the fold, Rot & Roll is here to stay and may the foul stench of Death Metal linger in the air for a long time to come.

 

WEBSITE      http://www.entombed.com/

 

TOTAL PLAY8NG TIME = 42 mins + 10 TRACKS