By Rich Hobson
If the band name and album title didn’t give it away, let us clue you in – this album is about riffs, riffs, riffs. The latest newcomers to a burgeoning brand of 70s worship under the ‘stoner rock’ banner, Salem’s Bend have the prerequisite Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and – to a lesser extent – Monster Magnet influences in check to produce the kind of music designed to scratch a very specific itch. You can practically see the poorly obscured Sabbath record stashed away in this band’s collection, the vinyl worn thin from constant play. And that’s by no means a bad thing.
Formulaic as it may be, stoner rock’s mostly-adherence to the tenets set down by bands like Black Sabbath, Trouble and Saint Vitus has created an easy path to the kind of blissful riff-worship rock fans want from time to time. Don’t believe us? Just look at how well bands like Greta Van Fleet are going down; its no coincidence that by getting elbows deep in earthy ‘70s proto-metal that band has found a lot of success, and if you really wanted to get philosophical you could say its because as fans we’re sick of the alternative – we want an alternative to the alternative that isn’t so played out these days.
For that, you’ll be glad that bands like Salem’s Bend exist – thumping away with a case of riffs, the band promise good times for anybody who just loves a bit of good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. Delivering the goods with panache, the band aren’t afraid to wear their inspirations on their sleeve and lean into a good solo when they find one. The deep basslines that signal the start of ‘Spaceduster’ straight away signal some Sabbath worship, but it’s the powerful energy of the track (itself somewhat reminiscent of the rollicking performance Sabbath themselves put in for ‘Hole in the Sky’) that turns this from mere lip-service and into a celebration of heavy metal and rock ‘n’ roll.
While Sabbath are the obvious touchstone for any stoner band, more and more we are seeing Thin Lizzy get their rightful place in the spotlight. Whether that’s just the advent of dual-guitar assaults in the stoner rock game, or a wider appreciation for that band’s slick sense of rhythm, bands like Wolftooth and Khemmis have stared to incorporate decidedly Lizzy-esque passages into their songs, and in that Salem’s Bend don’t disappoint either; ‘Catamount’ is a super-slick rock track that’ll make you want to suit up and don your best for a Saturday night of rocking, such is its ultra-stylishness. That doesn’t mean the band are a slouch in the all-out assault stakes, mind; straight-after, ‘Heavenly Manna’ is a clattering beast of proto-heavy metal proportions, before breaking out into an almost Latino guitar section that suggests whole other areas of the music spectrum for this band to mine.
In fact, when the band go full jam-mode we find them at their most distinct – ‘Winds of Ganymede’ is an epic, steadily building instrumental that carries the music into completely different territories, keeping the stoner rock edge but taking it further out than elsewhere on the record. In fact, the effect is so sheer that when the album moves back to more familiar territories it feels a little anticlimactic, as the enormous instrumental just leads back to the same kind of territories as before.
Of course, it’s a disappointment that doesn’t linger for long – the heavy doom tones of ‘Thinking Evil’ soon get things going again, and ‘Infinite Horizon’ is a triumphant blast of mountain-shifting riffing that reaches for the heavens in a way that pays off the more adventurous aspects of ‘Heavenly Manna’ and ‘Winds’, bringing the record-proper to a satisfying close.
If you love stoner rock and hold a place in your heart that reveres ‘70s-style riffing and somewhat cosmic melodies, ‘Supercluster’ is exactly the kind of record for you. While it won’t do much to convert the uninitiated into the ranks, nor expand the genre’s boundaries out for the future, it is a solid slice of rock n roll goodness, revering its forebears whilst delivering just enough swagger to ensure it retains its own personality. Stick it on loud and submit to the power of the riff – you won’t regret it.
- ‘Supercluster’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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