Twisted Roots – Turn to Stone – Review

Twisted Roots

Turn to Stone (Cherrydisc)
by Scott Hefflon

They live up to their name. Twisted Roots swing like a pendulum between sparse, bare boned introspection and the roar of Black Sabbath in the Seattle metal days. For christsakes, they’re from Maine. It must be something in the climate in both places that pulls the despair and isolation from their hearts and spreads it across the music in such a beautiful and painful dirge. The comparisons are too easy, and this band deserves distinction from the flannel copy cats in the current grunge glut. Their observations are thoughtful and personal (despite the typos in the typesetting) and drape comfortably over the heavy crunching guitar and sizzling solos that erupt and blend back into the original texture. The throaty harmonies and intricate jam qualities make Turn to Stone sometimes mournful, sometimes angry, but always diverse, rich and thoughtful.