... PEACEMAKER "Cult .45" (Album Review)

You cannot hide the fact that the englishmen have a rather weird sense of humor. After all, their country gave us the Monty Python (I do think that “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” is the first Doom song ever written), 'Fawlty Towers', Mister Bean and Wallace & Gromit. Today, England give us Peacemaker, whose first album is aptly named Cult .45 as a wink to the classic Peacemaker Colt 45. What as this all to do with the weird english sense of joke? Well, let's just say that the Colt 45 was designed for the US cavalry in the 1870's and was thus nicknamed because it was very helpful in 'pacifying' the rebellious native american tribes : got it?

Apart that, what bullets can be found in the barrel of this very Peacemaker? Musically, the London-based band display a fine slab of groove and heaviness. The sound is classic, harking back to the early days of the US scene without shame, but the band is doing a pretty good job in NOT sounding old school at all. Let me explain : you could pinpoint every influence in each song by virtue of a single riff, yet Peacemaker doesn't copy any band. They take what's been done before, and instead of just vomiting it exactly like it was, they twist it and mold it into their own stuff. When you compare this way of creating music to the gazillions Black Sabbath clones presented to me as 'the next big name in Doom' every week, there's simply no challenge : Peacemaker is a band that makes the music evolving, while the other pretenders are just happy to see it stagnating.

There's a feeling present in every track of this album, a feeling that the band act more as a family than just a simple reunion of musicians. Every instrument is equal, there's not the classic guitar-solo or singer falsetto. It's Doom Metal, yes; with all the heaviness (if not more) and none of the cliché. Sometimes, Peacemaker sounds like a Doom metal version Howl (especially in the vocals, that seems to have been bathed in gin more than once to sounds that raucous), with tracks like “Follow The Rats” sounding like if Saint-Vitus had composed Full Of Hell. Next thing you ear, the band suddenly starts a song mixing Aaron Stainthorpe-style vocals and Desert/Southern Rock (“The Sorrow Trip”, aka “My Dying Bride overdosing on The Gun Club” and oozing with Southern Gothic vibe). Vocals are vicious, spitted forth like if Al Osta (more known for being the grizzly bear growling in Ravens Nest) like if he was targetting your face, your friends and your family with the venom right from inside his throat. This makes the lyrics even more intense, as they complete the music and bring an healthy dose of darkness to the album.

This is the kind of album that could have been done if the '77 Punks had prefered Black Sabbath to Bob Marley. This is the kind of music that catch you by the balls, kick you in the guts and let you vomit your beer in the gutter. This is the music of the drunk, of the desperate, of the insane. This is the music of life. And she may be an ugly bitch, but she has rarely been so well sung about. With Cult .45, Peacemaker have that there is still some integrity and originality left in the Doom scene. Let them continue to kick it in the balls for many years to come.

Laurent Lignon

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