By Jonny Bakes
I may have stopped eating meat a while ago but I couldn’t help but get just a little bit tempted at the prospect of Steak… Naturally, I’m referring to the band that have been a staple at London’s Desertfest over the years and set to return again this year, making it the perfect time for a new album! It’s aptly titled ‘Acute Mania’ which is a pretty fitting description of the absolute clusterfuck of a year that has provided a backdrop to the recording of this album.
The pace of ‘Acute Mania’ is steadier than a lot of the music I’ve been listening to recently, which makes it perfect for the rare bit of sunshine at the moment. Loosely speaking, it’s a bit like the bastard lovechild of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden which makes it a little bit more “neighbour-friendly” for listening to outside too! While the pace is steady, you cannot accuse ‘Acute Mania’ of being boring as there’s plenty to get your teeth stuck into with this Steak offering! If heavy bluesy instrumentals are your thing, then you’ll find it in spades with ‘Acute Mania’ bringing some ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ vibes (particularly in ‘Mono’) to accompany some of the chunkier riffs. But perhaps my favourite thing about this musical journey through ‘Acute Mania’ is that, despite its heavyweight nature, it still manages to invoke a real mellow mood that would be perfectly accompanied by a few glasses of your chosen poison.
The album gets off to a pretty slow start with ‘Wolves’ and its simple mellow riff. This gentle start is abruptly interrupted by a good chunky riff heralding the short chorus before slipping back into being gentle with you again. This naughty/nice switcheroo continues until you’re hit by a breakdown that is filthy enough to be top-shelf material! It was at this point I realised that this was going to be an album that was worth listening through to the finish, but there was one song that stood out for me…
And this had to be the near-nine-minute long epic, ‘Papa’s Special Custard’ (not just because of the title) which lures you in with nothing but a solid bassline. It gradually builds into a flowing piece of instrumental-heavy music interspersed with haunting vocals that lean into psychedelic influences. Sticking with it, you’ll be surprised by the change in pace into a relatively raucous helping of heavy blues to lead you out of this track. Or at least you would have been had I not told you about it.
All in all, as the lyrics go in ‘Ancestors’, this has been a long time coming for Steak, with five years having passed since their previous outing ‘No God to Save’. But was it worth the wait? I would say so! There’s some great material that will go down well at this year’s Desertfest for sure and will appeal to fans of the likes of Green Lung and Elephant Tree to name but a few. Basically, if you’re living for fuzzy stoner music then Steak should be a staple part of your diet, with ‘Acute Mania’ being a happy side effect!
- ‘Acute Mania’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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