Green & Wood - S/T

Green And Wood, a band that came out of nowhere for me but are actually from LA have their self titled album out on Cyclopean Records. The The gate-fold LP comes with a full color poster of the cover art as well as a drop-card for a free download. It also comes in beautiful translucent orange vinyl. This power trio plays a heavy blend of Sabbath, Sleep, Blue Cheer and Pentagram influenced Stoner Doom Metal but are not just following the over-played blueprint created by those bands. They have carved out a sound that is rich, organic with enough of their own sound to make them a worthwhile investment for Doomsters and Stoner Rockers alike. What sets the band apart is the vocals lines which are catchy and melodic while they make full use of hook-laden riffs that contain more than enough groove for any band of this genre. "War In The Sky" is a great track which sounds like a focused jam, much like early "Atomic Bitchwax". The walking bass-lines and creative guitar work is exciting to hear and the band really likes to stretch out even though most of the songs are fairly short, they really pack in a lot of movement into the arrangements. Its this sort of playing that makes this band at times seem like a homage to albums like Randy Holden's Population II, and Jerusalem's eponymous heavy rock masterpiece. There is also plenty of Sabbath worshiping going on but they at least put their own spin on it rather than just recycling the riffs made famous by Tony Iommi. There is many highlights on the album but some are "Construct of Fear" with its harmonic passages at the start and the down-tempo layered riffing at the end. "Banquet of Jupiter" is one of those hook-laden numbers I mentioned earlier and is a real solid tune, "Castle Kerak" is also another monster with the drummer sounding like Bill Ward circa 1970 all over again. If there is a downside to this album, its the fact it is all so very predictable. You can almost hear the first 10 seconds from each track and then predict in your mind the rest and you would be right. The plus side though is they are so good at doing it that its also a very enjoyable romp through everything from early 70's Heavy Prog, Blues Rock to modern day Stoner doom. The band is capable of writing great songs with cool arrangements and if they continue to find their own niche in songwriting, the next album could be a masterpiece up there with the 70's classics they so obviously worship. If you love Stoner Doom with a 70's edge and you are a fan of Witchcraft and Graveyard you will eat this one up. This album is a grower and I expect to see this high up on the top 10 lists for 2009, I know some people will be freaking out grooving to this album. For me, the jury is still out to see if it will stand the test of time but right now its one of the more listenable Retro-Doom Rock releases to hit my doorstep this year. 7.5/10

www.myspace.com/GreenandWood