Alabama Thunderpussy – Constellation – Review

Alabama Thunderpussy

Constellation (Man’s Ruin)
by Craig Regala

Powerhawg groove powered Southern kickass with a decent chunk of growly vocal melody to ground the songs in the mythic South, where most of this rock’n’roll business started anyways. Not to be confused with the new breed of Deep Southern metal typified by the Down’s Nola, and the last coupla C.O.C. discs. There’s warm grind to Alabama Thunderpussy that eschews ’90s metal pyrotechnics and precision. Hell, half the time this sounds like if the Confederacy of Scum destructo-rock Union got lush and heavy, it might just be the whiskey talkin’, but I feel something from Antiseen in this. Structurally, huge gobs of clay-covered sustain-laden riffs hang from the songs waiting to: a) let the drums knock ‘m over you, or b) kick up a boogiefest as delicate as watchin’ rhinos tap dance.

As with much of this new stuff, they slip in some low-key back-porch stuff now and then – you know, like early Blackfoot did, but with ye olde Sabbath riff loam, the same kinda thing that turns up on about half of the Altamont Civil War Fantasy record. Lots to dig on this one. Don’t forget to lie on the floor to play the last cut on repeat – it runs about 10 seconds shy of a dozen minutes. Its a rope-a-dope between boogie and space grunt that ends with about two minutes of floating, lightly-held guitar that’s just kinda there as a eulogy, I suppose.
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