Desultory

Swallow The Snake (Metal Blade)
by Chaz Thorndike

As a fan of practically anything producer Tomas Skogsberg’s magic fingers touch (Grave, Entombed, et al), I dig Swallow the Snake even though half the songs are fist-pumpin’, mid-tempo powermetal. I somehow survived the ’80s and I’m not exactly thrilled about any kind of mass resurgence of obtuse lyrics about castles, the origins of evil, lurking menace and the like belted over chunky metal riffs, dreamy Maiden-esque leads, and plodding drums. Then again, some of the tracks blast like the best of the big boys (like, say, Machine Head, Pantera, and White Zombie) and even use some of the same ammo: Distorted roars, street smart rage, post-Sabbath riffage, and lots of crashing cymbals. The opening track, “Mushroom Smile,” a straight-forward, foot-to-the-floor angstfest, is so poundingly mixed, you barely notice it sounds like pretty much every massively produced song you’ve ever driven recklessly to. Both that and “The Bitter Man” are so roaringly typical of Skogsberg’s knob-twiddling, I’m tempted to recommend any band that mistakenly feels they have something novel to contribute to the heavy genre be produced by Tomas or that guitar guy in Grip, Inc. whose name I can never spell correctly. At least the shit will sound good.