Tracklist:

1. In The Night
2. Double Nature
3. Falling Down
4. The Heckler
5. I Wanna Be Loved
6. Scyphozoa
7. Spreading The Worst
8. Bring Me Everyone
9. Forever Begins Today
10. I Am Not Aggressive
11. The End

This fresh 2007 release by Regain Records which is also home to bands like Dismember, Vader, Sahg, Overkill, Samael, Gorgoroth, Dark Funeral among others, the Swedish band Mustasch has blown me away with their best album till date. They're still fairly unknown so I'll give the mandatory band details. They were formed in 1997 and recorded their first demo the following year at the Mustasch Farm somewhere in Sweden (therefore the band name, you mofos). After a few more demos and a place in many compilations, they released their first EP in 2001. Right now their album count is 4 including the album in discussion along with 2 EP/MCDs. That and their constant touring gives them the prolific status.



The idea behind the band is to play riffs. Just raw chunky tuned down mid-paced catchy riffs with a groovy-as-fuck rhythm section, ripping vocals and brilliant production.

Mat Hansson is my kind of drummer. I bet he's one of those guys who comes up with cool dynamic grooves when you ask him to give you a beat in the jam room. Once you have a drummer of this musical caliber/taste and a bass player who locks so tight with him, you have the perfect rhythm section. Of course you have to come up with good songs and riffs but what makes a good band great is their frontman and the drummer. The drummer scores here like I already mentioned but what about the frontman? Enter, the guitar-wielding vocalist Ralf Gylennhammar who's supreme at both, so typical of Swedish bands. His voice sort of brings you the best of both the Spiritual Beggars vocalists JB and Spice, you have the dirty gruff to impress the stoners out there and the baritone classic-metal vocal styling to blow everyone else away. His leads are completely ballsy ass mastery. The new Alabama Thunderpussy and this record will sit comfortably next to each other as far the vocals and the leads are concerned.

The album opens with In the Night that screams 80s and then moves to the asskicking Double Nature with its acoustic intro leading into a spiffy orchestral violin backing leading to the heavy riff and then the gruffy vocals. It's already top-notch but the third song Falling Down onwards is when the album peaks. The End is the epic chaotic ending to a brilliant album that has really gotten better with every listen so far. This is going to appeal to you if bands like Spiritual Beggars or Grand Magus rule your world, if you're a fan of 70s and 80s metal when the production was still real, organic and every instrument is allowed to breathe (Pre-Pyromania of course) or if you enjoy the new crop of bands that play straight-ahead old-school metal (Bible of the Devil, Slough Feg). This streak of great songs by this band put together as "The Latest Version of Truth" is going to be difficult to out-class this year. Do yourself a favour, etc.



Links:
Official site
Official MySpace