BRAIN POLICE (Beyond The Wasteland) CD
I love Iceland for its landscapes and for its myths and history. This is one of the very rare places on this earth, where one still can find and discover untamed nature and areas, which no one ever touched before. In opposite to my knowledge about the nature of Iceland, I don't know anything about bands from there, who are playing Doom Metal or Heavy Rock. This changed when I received the new album of BRAIN POLICE, who are coming from the land of ice and snow. The band was formed in 1998 and they recorded four albums until Small Stone Records dicovered and signed them. 'Beyond The Wasteland' is the band's debut for Detroit's finest label and it marks a brilliant start into the new year 2008. After I have listened for weeks to this album I still ask myself how a band this incredible has managed to slip through unnoticed is beyond me. BRAIN POLICE delivering 11 tracks that are fuzz-driven, heavy and irresistible, at times reminiscent of early 70's heavy rock. To write down a few words for each of the songs of the release or even half of them would be an exhausting process of band name-dropping.
Let me just say BRAIN POLICE does everything better than most of the bands in the underground when it comes to the so-called genre of stonerrock. Very often the band blur the line between that style and good old vintage 70's heavy rock as in the opener 'Rooster Booster' and here are so many more examples for this musical ability. Jens Ólafsson's vocals are passionate, powerful and concise, augmented perfectely by Búi Bendtsen's blazing guitar style. Drummer J.B. Rikardsson and bassist H.I. Stefànsson build a steamrolling rhythm section, which pack a powerful dynamic punch that moves the whole album at a varied pace. Oh yes, variety is one of the trademarks of 'Beyond The Wasteland' and additional guest musician Porir Baldursson diversifies a few songs with hammond organ and Fender rhodes piano. You don't have too wait very long until the album ramrods its melodies into your long-term memory, that truly showcases the band's excellent songwriting talents. BRAIN POLICE is a band that's continuing the tradition of genuine sweaty soulful heavy rock in the most effective way. A stunning album, which should be part of your music collection as soon as possible!