Dozer, Swedish stoner rock stalwarts, have been it at for 10 years now and show no signs of slowing down. If anything, they've evolved progressively, album after album, wandering off into territory that they can truly claim as their own. With Beyond Colossal, they’ve added album number five to their already impressive and consistent discography (not to mention the numerous collaborations with like minded rockers). This time however, they’ve promoted their old drummer to the role of producer and put a new guy behind the kit. Despite this, the band’s chemistry is still very much intact and Dozer have managed to put out a doozy.

Though many parallels can be drawn between album openers The Flood and Drawing Dead (from Heathens), Beyond Colossal shows a much more aggressive side of Dozer. Comparing in units of pure sweltering rock fury, riffs like the intro to Message Through Horses and Fire For Crows could give any High on Fire riff a run for its money. Maintaining a fine balance, you have an equal amount of songwriting that pays homage to the desert as well, resulting in raw, upbeat, power chord driven portions which have the characteristic Dozer twist to them. Grand Inquisitor, with its simple QOTSA styled melodies and memorable hooks, topped off with an absolutely crushing chorus, is an instant classic and one of my (if not THE) favourite Dozer tracks. Fredrick Nordin makes full use of his vocal cords, ranging from uncannily melodic crooning to the rough and tough ways of typical stoner rock, as and when needed, aligning himself perfectly with the fuzz. Neil Fallon from Clutch is featured on a couple of songs but his presence is hardly felt. Opting to end with a softer track, Bound For Greatness has soulful organs playing host to solemn, whiskey soaked vocal lines, rounded up with minimal guitars. The song just goes to show that Dozer have always had much more facets to them than the one-dimensional stoner rock band.

I can only imagine what the successor to this album will sound like. Dozer have set high standards and I’ll wager that I’m not the only one with high expectations. They’ve paid great attention to detail on this album and have packed it with wonderful songwriting; songwriting that’s ballsy, unique and worthy of a ton of listens. This one is up there as far as ’08 releases are concerned.

 

 

Label - Peaceville
Year of Release - 2009