STEREOCHRIST (III) CD
Even on their third album 'III', Hungarian heavyweights Stereochrist cannot deny their influences. You surely still hear some Down in there. And there is quite a few bands these days following in the footsteps of Phil Anselmo, Kirk Windstein and co. but to my weary ears Stereochrist do it more convincing than most, maybe more than all others. And when they slow down the pace every now and then, sometimes reminding of Kirk Windstein's baby Crowbar, they really do it for me. Other than that there is some nice metal riffing going on every now and then. But most times the guys around former Mood guitarist Kolos Hegyi and the returning singer Péter Felföldi let the southern groove reign supreme. Just listen to the insetting bass at the beginning of the opener 'Double Dealer'. That alone should give fans of the Southern Groove chills. And if not, then 'Queen Of The Octopy' and the closing track 'Soul Squeezer' with its nice calm parts should work.
Or do you like some Thrash Metal in between? Then 'Deal With Or Do Without' or the fine 'When You Climb Up The Ladder' will do the trick for all of you guys, that probably miss Pantera. '941028' is just some nice smoother guitar piece that is usual these days, but sometimes I like to have something like that and it fits well here. And 'A Shipload Of Tricks' brings back some doomy moments somewhere between more traditional sounds and, based on that, evokes memories of Kolos' other band, Magma Rise, and of course Crowbar. This one can convince me with a nice short lead at the end. Instead, my favourite tracks are the Doom Rocker 'Unified Theory' that reminds me of later Penance combined with a hint of Place Of Skulls as well as the nice southern rocker 'Shallowman' with a nice guitar melody and this groove that forces you to move. Anyways, we can make it short. Stereochrist released another good album worth checking out if you dig heavy rock. And who of you guys does not?
(Thorsten Frahling)