Russell Hughes36 Crazyfists – Lanterns (Spinefarm Records)
Genre: Metal
There is a debate on certain pages of the internet concerning the most underrated metal bands of all time. 36 Craztfists get a hell of a mention.
The Alaskan four-piece have been pumping out music since 1994 and have developed into one of the best sounding acts on the planet.
36 Crazyfists were a band born out of tragedy and have suffered their fair share of loss along the way, but Lanterns is all about inner fight and refusing to sink into the abyss – and that’s exactly what the Anchorage natives have done their whole career.
Lead single Death Eater is also the first song on the album and it sets it away like greyhound chasing a rabbit with a guttural yowl and a pounding drum section that gives way to eardrum melting guitar.
Singer Brock Lindow’s voice is as good as ever and he carries the weight of the songs squarely on his capable shoulders as Lanterns ticks through heavyweight champion after heavyweight champion.
Wars To Walk Away From, Better To Burn, Damaged under Sun. All these songs sound like they’re auditioning for a best of metal compilation CD and they roll into each other smoother than a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label.
But where the album really gets interesting is where it takes a slower turn through Sea and Smoke and Where Revenge Ends. The former is a stripped down metal tune in which Lindow still gives it the beans, while the latter slows it all the way down to zero and shows off the softer touch of the band.
While that doesn’t last song, Sleepsick is an absolutely bruiser of a song and is the best on the album, it brings the whole concept of the record together in pin sharp clarity.
36 Crazyfists are definitely back and they sound better than ever. They might be from the snowy depths of America but they’re red hot.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 9/10 12 Crazytunes