Riff-a-licious!
Thankfully being a Chesworth, it's not every time you fall into a bucket of tits, you come out sucking your thumb! This rare occurrence happened back in 2007 (and my very early reviewing days) when I was given the task of reviewing a band I'd never ever head of, and that was Mustasch's Latest Version Of The Truth. I must admit I was completely blown away by the Swedish Riff-Meisters, and I have been ever since! From the first bars of In The Night that was me - (pick your idiom)...hooked like a salmon, rabbit/deer in the headlights, like a dog with 2 dicks, like a child on Jim'll Fixit...ok so maybe not the last one, but I was sold!
I think that Mustasch have one of the best combination of styles in the world, heavy and crunching solos, a singer like Ian Astbury on steroids, but with a melody that gets under your skin like a nice Dracunculiasis! Look it up people, I had to!! This writing shit is not easy,
Feared and Hated starts off a little pub singer-y (whoa-oh-ohooohhhh) before unleashing a hellfire riff that Mark Tremonti would be proud of; a gun-fire burst of riffage! All this power and with a bridge/chorus to kick you in the nuts (or lady parts).
Title track Thank You For The Demon has a gently piano accompaniment, before the Lords of the riff break out and shows the band evolving with a slightly different direction than normal.
From Euphoria to Dystopia sees Mustasch channel their inner Maiden/Lizzy, and then give Tony Iommi a run for his money with the doom laden The Mauler. One thing that stands out rather nicely after repeated listenings are the subtlety of the string arrangement they throw into many of their compositions. Its not just 4 blokes bludgeoning their instruments for pain and our pleasure, they are far more clever than that
All My Life is probably the closest the Swedes come to a ballad, or so you think. Its just 50% less metal than the norm.
Its short and sweet, weighing in at less than 37 minutes. But what Thank You For The Demon lacks in minutes, it makes up for it in pure unadulterated quality. Not every album needs to fill 700Mb of data on a cd and be 75mins long
To be fair to the guys, they have a formula that works, plain and simple. Its metal for us masses; powerful, brutal, and hellishly melodic to boot. Thank You For The Demon is a stand out album in the Mustasch catalogue, and is a contender for their finest opus yet.
It's too early to be included in my top albums of 2013, as its not due out until Jan, but I can guarantee you already that it will be in my Top 10 of 2014 whatever happens
Now PLEASE, get your arses over to the UK!