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Disastroid

Money And Guilt

Written by: PP on 27/10/2012 00:22:56

Not all bay area bands play thrash metal apparently, as Disastroid set out to prove on their new album "Money And Guilt". Instead, these boys have a profound love for anything and everything stoner rock and early 90s grunge, which unfortunately manifests itself a little too clearly throughout their record. There are several passages which I believe are outright stolen from the heavyweights in each genre, starting from the bass/guitar combo riff on "Low" which is unmistakably Queens Of The Stone Age in its sound, going through the blatant copy-catting of Soundgarden on "Eternal Home", to a more Nirvana-esque grungy gloom on "Room In My Head".

That's not to say they aren't good songs, because there's a reason why said bands were (and still are) met with so much enthusiasm. Disastroid may not have the same charisma as Chris Cornell or the same quirk as Josh Homme, so their sound is essentially a watered down version of the originals, but it still sounds relatively good to my ears nonetheless. The good news is that their vocalist has the kind of rough character to his voice that elevates him above many of his contemporaries, which would carry the release on its own if it were necessary. Thankfully, the instrumentals answer the call and deliver some saucy stoner rock played with a grunge rock twist and attitude, however, it's really difficult to escape the fact that almost all of the good songs on the record sound way, way too similar to the bands they've been inspired by. That's why, even though I enjoy this record as a starting point, it's difficult to award it any higher rating.

Download: Low, Sunshine, Eternal Home
For the fans of: Queens Of The Stone Age, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Melvins, Soundgarden
Listen: Facebook

Release date 19.06.2012
Self-Released