Friday, January 27, 2012

"the headless king" - an amazing debut by JUNIOR BRUCE

Coming from Florida, JUNIOR BRUCE is a 5 piece formed in 2007 by Scott Angelacos who used to sing in the pretty wellknown BLOODLET (HC band which released 4 albums between 1995 and 2002)... This is of course not an immediate guarantee of quality but it helps and as his fellows show a very skilled musicianship, we've got here a real winner playing some utterly groovy STONER METAL with Sludgy overtones...
10 songs on this debut, there's no filler, no unnecessary intro or long arrangements, never on a really fast pace or at supreme technicality, but brillantly raw, straight, simple and homogeneous. By its very pronounced heaviness and the way of combining maliciously STONER, METAL and SLUDGE, JUNIOR BRUCE (by the way, this was one of the caracters in the movie DEATH RACE 2000) can suit to a wide range of heavy music fans from MASTODON, HIGH ON FIRE and their neighbours of HOLLOW LEG (without their infectious edge).
Obviously more varied than on his HC days but still massive and generously agressive, vocals by Scott A. are almost always understandable, catchy and screechy, often turning into harsh yells, but occasionally more deep and slightly melodic. While all musicians have their place and a distinct identity on the production side, I would particularly underline the magnificent work of the lead guitars, very melodic and often bringing a delicious little doomy and mesmerized edge...
My fave songs are "deafitist", "the headless king", "churchburner", "the serpant lives" and the wonderful closer "book of tyranny", but I'm sure some of the others could be yours, cause we really have here an album that will let a tangible mark on this new year... You've been warned, JUNIOR BRUCE is a serious new hope for the future of the STONER/METAL scene; so don't waste time, check "the headless king" now through A389 rds !

JuniorBruce by A389Recordings

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