Riotgod-Riotgod
released August 17, 2010 on Metalville Records
It’s not often that an album like this falls into your hands. Riotgod is made up of Jim Baglino and Bob Pantella of Monster Magnet, Garrett Sweeny of Psycho Daisy and Mark Sunshine. Where to start? “Light Of The Sun” gets the joint..err..ball rolling with a tune that is very reminiscent of Black Sabbath, albeit slowed down even more, but no less epic. If there’s a better way to start off such an album, I’d like to know about it. “Crusader” pretty much follows the same vibe. “The Time Is Now” changes it up slightly but otherwise, I’m sure you can see a pattern forming, albeit an enjoyable pattern that is. Being that Monster Magnet itself started off with influences such as Hawkwind, it’s not a surprise to see that continuation with half of Monster Magnet present in Riotgod. “Pinata” is another great track that takes a heavy influence from Steppenwolf and modernizes it. The album seems to change up a bit with “Drone Station”, taking on more of a grungy/sludgy feel to it, but without discarding the overall feel. “Love It Or Leave It” takes on a sound that’s more reminiscent of Sonic Youth and the Smashing Pumpkins in nature, which is an interesting detour from the first half of this album. “Sweet Kaos” takes on an epic feel of sorts, echoing more of their influence from 60s and 70s rock with the riffs evoking equal parts Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi. The last half of this album returns to a slow, plodding pace with “Fangasm” being the strongest of the last four songs, smoothly tying together all of their influences into one neat package. In conclusion, I’m not sure how much more I could gush over this album. It’s rare that an album like this comes along and seemingly ties up the loose ends between certain rock genres. An absolute masterpiece and quite possibly the best album of 2010!
FCC: Check
Try: ALL but especially 1, *3*, *8*, 9, *10*, *12*, *15*
01. Light Of The Sun
02. Crusader
03. The Time Is Now
04. Horizon
05. 9th Life
06. Omega
07. Collapsing Stars
08. Pinata
09. Drone Station
10. Love It Or Leave It
11. Rift
12. Sweet Kaos
13. High Time
14. Grand Design
15. Fangasm
16. Minds Eye
5/5