ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY - Open Fire
March 4, 2007, 17 years ago
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Those vocal melodies on ‘Words Of The Dying Man’ are a little annoying, and it sounds like a frequency or two is missing from the drum production, but other than that, I’m diggin’ the new, tougher, more brittle Alabama Thunder Pussy sound. Perhaps it’s (yet another) new vocalist in Exhorder/Floodgate vet Kyle Thomas, but there’s a sharp bite here missing on some of the blobbier, more stoner material from the past. Granted, the music was all done before Thomas joined, but these are his lyrics and melodies. Riffs everywhere, eventful and freshly various (check out None Shall Return, which is like punk crossed with early ‘80s Priest) stud and flood this thing in a redneck metal gumbo. But ATP don’t fully shove up against the suddenly crowded southern metal thing, because they seem more about celebrating simple, classic metal – I mean, few would be brave enough to turn in a rudimentary swing like ‘Brave The Rain’, and the guys bash endearingly like a garage band here and there (see ‘Greed’), which is likely more so just the trashy drum production speaking. All told, I’d call this the most immediately satisfying of ATP records, and Kyle’s menacing spit-bucket snarl is a big part of the chicken ‘n’ ribs party pak. Final trivia note, the cover art, of course, doesn’t match the title too well, although look closely and you’ll spot a few bullet holes in big dude, there…
