Redscale – The Old Colossus
Release Date: 15th October 2021
Label: Majestic Mountain Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Stoner rock, Heavy Rock.
FFO: Clutch, Valley of the Sun, Zed, Truckfighters.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Putting riffs front and centre, Berliners Redscale are loud and proud on their new release, The Old Colossus. Best described as stoner heavy rock, they take the heavy grooves from the likes of Clutch, strap on some turbo charged heavy rock then light the blue touch paper and wait….
First track, On the Run, has all the hallmarks of a classic stoner rock number, huge, chunky riffs, and roaring vocals, until the band can’t resist the temptation to floor the throttle and launch it towards the horizon. Likewise, the title track begins with a slow, deliberate crawl, before once again the loud pedal is mashed and the whole thing denotes in an explosion of furious magnificence. Continuing with the automotive theme, the band injects some Volbeat style boogie into the charging It’s a Death Cult, Baby and it takes off like a flame spewing hot rod hurtling full throttle down a steep, narrow mountain road….in the dark….with the brake lines cut!
Tabula Rasa and Hard to Believe slow the pace but up the heaviness. They also emphasize the sheer quality of the vocal performance by Henning Claussen, with a more than a hint of Neil Fallon, but by no means an impression, his powerful and emotive voice does it’s far share of the heavy lifting during every track (with the exception of the instrumental Wall of Glass, which as result does lack some impact), whilst the mainly acoustic At The End is the sound of a man tearing away the machismo to bare the naked, raw vulnerability underneath.
The album closes out on a dizzying high with The Lathe of Heaven, seven and half minutes where the band open every box of tricks, put it all on the table, throw in the kitchen sink for good measure. Then kick the whole fucking lot into your face and dare you not to bang your goddammed head!
The Old Colossus starts with a bang and ends with an even bigger bang. It could be argued that there is a sight lull in the middle, but hey, you need to get your breath back sometime!
(4 / 5)
