Overall Score: 7/10
Songwriting: 8/10
Riffs: 7/10
Production: 7/10
Pros: Clutch never disappoint, plenty of great stoner rock anthems and outlandishly brilliant lyrics
Cons: More of a grower than recent LPs. Some songs take a while to reveal their charms
CLUTCH has a better run of albums than most rock bands. In the stoner rock genre there is no one who can match them.
Sunrise On Slaughter Beach is the band’s 13th album, but we don’t think anyone will see any bad luck. It came after a break, being five years since the book of bad decisions, its embarrassment of riches having to tide us over all sorts of world events. Sunrise On Slaughter Beach’s punk rockish brevity is a surprise, at a mere thirty minutes and nine tracks it feels almost mean and on early plays you may feel short changed.
The opener and lead out song Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone) is the epitome of the album and is over in three and half minutes. It’s a red herring and listening to the lyrics reveals a clue to the under-lying vibe of the record. We think it speaks to the band’s ambitions. When we asked what Unto The Breach was about, he admitted it was his attempt to write a Dr Who story. His desire to soundtrack the movies in his mind is becoming ever clearer as he becomes a sci-fi fan.
There are more West End and Broadway tunes here than there are Maryland ones. There is a new seriousness to the songs. They may be about a vampire, a space mission or a booze fueled night on the town, but in general they steer clear of goofiness, the story is all that matters. You have to listen closely, immerse yourself in their atmospheres and then the little twists and sonic experiments emerge if you don’t listen to a lot of the numbers.
MUSE could have written a big shiny chorus for the track, which is the centre piece of the album. It’s more cinematic than anything they’ve ever tried before and there are passionate but wordless female backing vocals. It still fits in a lot of big riffs.
The title track has a lot of low-slung heavy grooves and a little Middle Eastern sound. There is a theremin and a guitar on Skeletons On Mars. It breaks down into a sort of dub with Hendrix-esque soloing before launching into a climax that is part HAWKWIND and part Rage Against the Machine.
Mountain Of Bones is one of the best metal albums of all time and is one of the reasons metalheads are well served by it.
If you want to see more of the fun side of CLUTCH, then you need to check out We Strive ForExcellence. Going back in time even further than Gimme The Keys, to a childhood of chopper bikes, missed meals and knees, as Evel Kneivel fantasies are lived out in a time before health and safety. It rages hard and is gone too soon.
Jackhammer Our Names is the album’s closing song. There are no words and a clear intent to paint on a bigger canvas. The band are trying to get into the stars while still being in the world of CLUTCH-world.
There is a lot more to see and do on this album, and it turned out to be more difficult to digest than first thought. The ambition in the writing has been raised and they are trying for excellence. They are still on a roll, but this time they are rolling a bit differently.
Weathermaker Music has a new song called Sunrise On Slaughter Beach.
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