Sixty Watt Shaman – Reason to Live – Review

Sixty Watt Shaman

Reason to Live (Spitfire)
by Craig Regala

Kick your ass, rock your house, groove-bangin’ metal on the stonerrock side of the divide. Scott Reeder’s knob-twisting is great. You can compare Dan’s vocals to Phil’s (Anselmo of Viking Crown, Pantera, Down, etc.), but that’s mainly projection and a similar blues rock ‘n’ roll tone. A tone which saturates the six-strings, too. Tell you what, I can’t recall any songs after playing it, but I do spin it fairly often. I like how it starts off with a boogie into kickass lick, and keeps the energy level up. The drumming is very solid and splashy in the cymbals without being too prominent in the mix. I don’t know if geography plays a role, but the rural/Southern feel that Sixty Watt Shaman have hardened into their “thing” does place’m down there below the Mason-Dixon line and in kinship with the Maryland doom bands and even the Confederacy of Scum power dirt scene in the wake of Antiseen.

If you want some traditionally-based kick-ass, signup. Look at it as pulling blues rock-rooted metal into the cranked-up realm of rock soldiers who grew up on Skynyrd/Nuge/BÖC/Thin Lizzy and kept absorbing density and grit. I’ll bet if you asked these guys, there’d be a buncha cool punk and hard alt. records from all eras in their hearts and minds. Tour’m with Zakk Wylde and Halfway to Gone, hide your weed and whiskey, and enjoy the evening. Bonus: These guys can back down to unplugged and still keep your attention.
(22 W. 38th St. 7th Fl. New York, NY 10018)