Crobot : "Obsidian"

The opening track of their new album finds a more aggressive take on rock that has more in common with newer Mastodon, than the more anthemic arena rock of the previous album. I get this progression for the band as they have been booked on festival bills where other bands were certainly rocking harder than they were. On the second song, he goes up into his higher register as the band brooding on grunge-ridden grooves. I do like it better than the previous song, though it sounds like the way most hair metal went in the 90s which is still a vibe I can get down with. "Nothing" retains the album's momentum, as they put their foot to the gas to keep things high energy while still carrying melodic melody to soar on the choruses, a pretty safe formula to work from. 

The moodier atmosphere gliding through "From the Ground" reminds me of I Mother Earth, though the big soulful chorus, brings it back closer to the mainstream, enough of the trippy 90s-flavored weirdness is there to work. Not enough bands are doing this sort of thing so it seems a worthwhile direction for them to explore further. "Disappear" is where the album begins to take more of the middle road regarding the hard rockin pursued here. This includes the song "Metal", as they have already touched on more metal moments previously in the album, and in the interest of just writing good songs, I am not too invested in them having to be a metal band. I would rather hear them explore some of the lesser-traveled ground they touched on earlier. 

The intro to "The Flood" has a spoken part that reminds me of Spinal Tap's "Stonehenge", the song itself is a suitable blend of deliberate grunge-tinge stonerisms. The melody is catchy enough which is the crux of things for these guys. "Ancient Druid Crown" feels like they are going back to the well with the same groove they used on the previous song which is not as effective as the first time around but doesn't;t suck either. While some elements of "Head of the Beast" move in a more metallic, they have the sense to back off on the verses so the vocals have room to breathe. The chorus does not slap as hard as some songs. "White Rabbit" is not a Jefferson Airplane cover, but a grooving original song that might be one of the album's best. It has one of the album's coolest guitar solos that does not conform to shredding expectations. "Happiness" is a ballad that closes the album. It sounds like a sappy Chris Cornell solo cut. I will give this one a 9, I do not think it hits like the previous album which was more interesting but they are good at what they do. 

pst452