The members are:
Graham Stokes - Vocals
Dave Claridge - Guitars
Gaz Imber - Guitars
Ru - Bass
Tom Smith - Drums
So what do we have here? Another Stoner Metal band from the UK. What makes this band standout from the other great Stoner Metal Bands from the UK.
Well I will tell you. Firstly General has a certain Gaz from ace UK Doomsters – Alunah – on guitar. Plus their excellent debut album – Where Are Your Gods Now – has been mastered by the legendary Billy Anderson and recorded by Greg Chandler.
And it sounds amazing from the word go. You can hear every grizzled Stoner Metal riff to perfection.
Now back to the album. Where Are Your Gods Now is a 9 song full throttle 54 minute blast of Stoner Metal carnage. Taking influence from the classic Stoner Metal bands of Monster Magnet, Clutch, Kyuss and Fu Manchu.
But adding some great Doom/Sludge Metal influences to their music as well. If you were brought on mid 90’s to early 00’s Stoner Metal then your going to love this like I did.
Opening track – Better Dead – shows that General mean business from the offset. Lead superbly by ace vocalist – Graham who has a hint of early Dave Wyndorf about him. The band showcases their own blend of high voltage pummelling riffs.
You know from this song your in for a great ride. OK it might not be breaking any new barriers but when the music sounds this great you just don’t care.
Just strap in and listen to the almighty angry grizzled sounds of General. As they do sound like an old grizzled Army Veteran who has seen it all before. The carnage, the destruction and not wanting to care anymore.
Up next is Make Or Breakdown which sets out the foundations for this great album. A 5 minute blast of machine gun type Stoner/Sludge Rock riffage that is very hard to ignore. It will have you head-banging or playing air guitar from the very first second.
Now the next song is where the album takes off in a big way. Bullet Train is a 6 minute blast that Monster Magnet would be proud to call their own. This is where the band is at their most ferocious and angriest. As Graham shouts out “I don’t need you anymore”. This is where General come into their own existence and where you will love this album.
General show with their next song – The 7 minute – Out Of The Sky they can slow things down to a gentler pace which shows the band in a devastating reflective pace. But still as powerful as the other 3 great songs that came before it. This is the band’s “lighter/mobile phone in the air” song that all great bands need to slow things right down before the normal business of pounding heavy riffs carries on as normal.
And carry on they do. Especially with the next track.- Blood Of The Pig – A mean dirty Sludge Rock song that showcases this bands talent once again in writing a hard hitting riff. Led superbly well yet again by Graham. It has a cool psych rock vibe that makes it one of the albums standout tracks.
OK I have reviewed the first 5 songs and that is all the songs I am going to review as I don’t want to spoil it for you anymore. But believe me the album has 4 more excellent tracks to show why I rate General so highly.
The last song Hydrogen is an 11:42 minute monster of a track that will have you pressing the repeat button over and over again.
Where Are Your Gods Now is truly thunderous affair that should get them noticed in the ever expanding Stoner Metal scene. Like their army rank they have battled through the ranks to proclaim themselves as one of the brightest hopes of UK Stoner Metal.
General might not win any awards for originality but they make up for it with the amount of amazing hard hitting riffs on show from start to finish.
An excellent album from a great band that I am expecting big things from in the years to come.
You can buy Where Are Your Gods Now from Catacomb Records from all good stockists now.
Check This Great Band Below
Official
Check Out The Excellent Video For Bullet Train
