Wednesday 18 December 2013

Monster Magnet Unleash The Mighty Beast Again



Things didn't look good for a while for Dave Wyndorf, singer and the only remaining original member of US band Monster Magnet. In 2007 he almost overdosed on drugs. Wyndorf barely dodged the reapers scythe. It saved his life but also gave him excess body weight. The once muscular noodle had transformed in an old overweight rocker, hardly looking anything like the person he used to be. Music wise the band wasn't the relentless monster of before either.

Monster Magnet - Last Patrol (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)

Earlier this year however Wyndorf proved with a tight rock show in Tilburg's 013 that he found the old magic back. Now there's a new album Last Patrol that is showing the same. The beast is back and is hurtling over you like in the old days with pounding rock songs. The guitar riffs are violent and convincing, supported by the familiar heavy grooves. The songs also have the usual quiet moments, where tension is building up to eventually erupt relentlessly. The long title track 'Last Patrol' takes the cake as it develops into a kind of spacy rock anthem.

But it's not just violence that is thrown at us. There are the usual moments where the band is showing its psychedelic side, like in 'Stay Tuned', and where it's slowing down. The group even dares to cover Donovan's 'Three King Fishers' and add add their own signature to it. And are we hearing bongos in 'The Duke Of Supernature'? In 'End Of Time' the Apocalypse seams near with roaring guitars and rolling fills. Ruthlessly the beast is racing along as if it awoke in a rude way. This is clear in the threatening 'Paradise'. The monster lays his anger upon us in 'Hallelujah' to eventually seal our fate in the feedback dredged 'Mindless Ones'.

Monster Magnet is playing with renewed energy. Even the nice art work of the cover is showing a powerful and aggravated demon that is up to no good. Hopefully Last Patrol is not living up to its name and turns out to be their last exercise, since in this shape Monster Magnet can go on for years.



This review has been published on Festivalinfo in Dutch over here.

Listen to Last Patrol on Spotify.



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