Thundermother – Black and Gold
Release Date: 19th August 2022
Label: AFM Records
Pre-Order/Pre-Save
Genre: Hard Rock
FFO: Halestorm, ACDC, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe.
Review By: Mark Waight
Black and Gold by Thundermother is a beautifully crafted, good old-fashioned hard rock album. Any fans of old school rock from the glory days of the past will absolutely love the “road trip” feel to one of the definitive albums of the summer. Anyone who gets to see the tracks from Black and Gold played live are in for a real treat, so make sure you pack your air guitar and best singing voice for any upcoming festivals or gigs where Thundermother feature.
Black and Gold is a superb twelve track album of absolutely banging new Rock tunes that fully demonstrates the all-female Swedish band are currently in the ascendancy of their career and enjoying every moment of it.
Thundermother are Filippa Nassil (guitars), Guernica Mancini (vocals), Emlee Johansson (drums), Mona Lingren (bass) and together they will rock your socks off!
Full on opening track The Light in the Sky grabs you straight away, and before you know it you will be singing “we are the Thunder” along with the band. Title track, Black and Gold, follows swiftly, and is an equally foot-stomping tune, which contains the clever use of a voice synthesiser to create something just a little different.
Raise Your Hands drops the pace slightly, with a heavier bass riff, and is sure to be a crowd pleaser at live events. The vocals in Hot Mess are beautifully soulful and reminded me of Aerosmith at their peak, it’s a lovely number that perfectly shows the bands softer side.
Wasted goes proper old school rock, celebrating the excesses of Rock’n’roll in a style that would make Motley Crue or ACDC blush, these ladies certainly do know how to rock hard!
Watch Out follows in a similar vein with a devastating pace and some fantastically shredding guitar work – what a song! The shift into something more southern on I Don’t Know You is a clever move. With each track having its own identity, Thundermother have made sure to keep you thoroughly engaged throughout this release.
All Looks No Hooks is an absolute classic hard rock song with a super bass rhythm complimenting some blues style guitar riffs and by the time you get to Loud and Free the party is in full flow – you will be grinning from ear to ear, and that air guitar will be absolutely on fire.
Try With Love is another hot rod paced track with just about every ingredient you need to create a quality track, complete with a belting short guitar solo!
Penultimate track Stratosphere is exactly where you will be at this point, – it’s another banging song with more than an 80’s film soundtrack edge to it (Beverley Hills Cop sprang into my mind when I first heard it)!
Final track Borrowed Time is a much slower track of epic rock ballad proportions. It is truly stunning both emotionally and musically in a way that touches the very fabric of your heart and will be sure to get all the lighters flickering at live events.
I couldn’t single out any individual track as my favourite, as they are all equally good as each other. I also couldn’t single out any individual band member for praise, as the whole album is a wonderful collective team effort deserving of praise! Black and Gold by Thundermother is a defining moment in their career, and I hope it serves the purpose of propelling the band on to greater things in the future.
(4.5 / 5)
