By: Joosep Nilk
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 07/08/2015
Label: Ripple Music
With such mean songwriting
skills as is on display here it’s rather difficult to pick favourites. ’Talismana’
definitely brings stand-out tracks but the band with their strong sense of
vision and penchant for killer riffs and catchy hooks all coated with stirring
vocal melodies manages to blend it all into one cohesive whole. This is one
superb debut from this Texan group and definitely one of this year’s not to be
missed out on.
’Talismana’ CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Tramplifier
2). Bed
Of Ashes
3). Slow
Burn
4). Phoenix
Ascent
5). Talismana
6). Black
Horizon
7). Boogie
Bride
8). Heavy
Head
9). Banshee
Call
The Review:
Sweat Lodge is a relatively new band that brought
much anticipation toward their full-length with their demo’s release. On their debut
they crank the temperature equally high as is common for their home base of
Texas and establish themselves as one of the finer bands to come out of the
blistering heat. Opening track ’Tramplifier’
is a proto-guided kamikaze of a tune that
gets straight up electrified with an infectious vocal hook. Perhaps most
evidently one surely can’t hold back the comparisons to Ozzy. Entertaining such
a comparison, on ’Tramplifier’, Sweat Lodge
pull it off as if you were spinning Sabbath at 45rpm, though the elevating vocal
delivery of Cody Johnston brought forth
simultaneously pained and focused.
The vocal
hooks hardly stop there. They carry onto ’Bed
Of Ashes’ which is a groovy,
classic guitar licks number. Or take arguably one of the stronger tracks ’Slow Burn’ where the riffs thunder with
a slight lethargy remaining to the smoking fury. Contary to the title there’s
of course nothing slow about this scorcher of a tune. Reeking of fatalism at
hand fit for true biker mentality, Sweat Lodge prove they’re able to light the
fuse and keep it burning hot on both ends when the tune sets into a trotting
frenzy with muffled singing toppled inbetween. It’s difficult to refrain from
pointing this out again and again but the vocals, echoing piercing words, is
enough to send chills down the spine.
Having
delved into the wittiness of lyrics and heard the clever twists and turns and off-kilter
outbursts that really set these tracks apart from your regular hard-rocking tunes,
it becomes obvious that ’Talismana’ is
aeons smarter than what one would perhaps expect firsthand. This sentiment is
especially on point on the next track which offers probably the most original
solutions throughout the album. ’Phoenix
Ascent’ brings an explosive sound, keeping
you consantly on the edge of your seat (or saddle!) and introduces a new brand
of psychedelia through its odd time signatures. Some solid bass backbone is
provided by interludes which are a solid head-nod toward Al Cisneros. Here takes
to the song’s finish one of the few guitar solos, which, as proven again by
it’s fade-out, are never lone in the focus but trimmed down as seasoning for
the songs themselves. What little taste the band do give of solos is solid and
promising though, with definite room to elaborate
on their sophomore, which is not to say the tracks are at all tarnished by their
exclusion. All is in its right place and flows straight into the title track, the
opening chords of which quickly establish it as the heaviest track on the
album. It’s headbanging galore whilst belting out the harshest of riffs. A bass
heavy guitar solo carries into a mid-way breakdown, as the tunes melt down and
bring your mind along.
The band
has admitted that their name is foremost a reference to the atmosphere of
kinship experienced at shows, with the spiritual indian practise as more an
afterthought. What is perhaps most admirable though is that both approaches to
the name work and are done perfect justice to. ’Talismana’ is equal parts mirages of native tribes with a backdrop of
scrunge collected on your leather shoes and jacket in the dry desert heat, as it
is pub anthems for whiskey-spilling, exhaust-fume-huffing, acid-dropping hippie-bikers.
What
really provides a solid backbone for the whole album is the lyrics with strong
imagery, carrying slightly occultist undertones. It’s all so well considered
and close-knit, making it a more familiar-sounding pub-rocker of a tune like ’Black Horizon’, rather a high-octane revelry,
is
not out of place alongside a tune like ’Boogie
Bride’, where the band also bare
some soul. The last of which, although beginning quite mild, is another
Sabbathian-inspired groover. The songwriting on ’Talismana’ is great
throughout but the composition on this track might just be the best at
showcasing what the band is capable of. The
line ’Help the snake to shed his
skin’ could be no more fitting than on this tune that developes in a
slithering manner, allowing the band to show the most diversity. The chorus’
repetition acting out almost like some sort of enchanting threnody, with vocals
delivered to the last possible breath making it sound authentic and truly diresome. Here the band never sound any less
than in total unison, which may also be attributed to the production, that must be acclaimed, is on point throughout the
album. The band really picks up the pace towards the track’s apex, bringing some
superb guitar licking solos, with lyrics playing contrast to the almost joyous tone
of the riffs and surely pummeling it all down at the climax.
What
really makes ’Talismana’ such an
enjoyable listen is the atmosphere. Like the whistling on ’Heavy Head’ that is
capable of taking you straight to high country if you let it. Just one look at the
title, the infectious rhythm and the more obvious mention of burning trees, makes
clear this one’s as a true stoner anthem,
which could also easily challenge the opening track for it’s energy levels. The
proto-metal interim coming totally out of left-field. Another fine example of Sweat Lodge’s aptitude of
knowing how to put together a memorable tune with smart lyrics yet leaving room
for surprises. Full release, indeed. The culmination is left for ’Banshee Call’ that starting off benign
in ballad-fashion invokes burning midnight oil, nighttime blues and envisioning
cowboy ghosts. Although down-tuned and blues-minded, the truly anguished
singing on this track brings the whole album to its glorious peak.
With such
mean songwriting skills as is on display here it’s rather difficult to pick
favourites. ’Talismana’ definitely brings
stand-out tracks but the band with their strong sense of vision and penchant
for killer riffs and catchy hooks all coated with stirring vocal melodies manages
to blend it all into one cohesive whole. This is one
superb debut from this Texan group and definitely one of this year’s not to be
missed out on.
’Talismana’ is available here
