When we discuss about a band’s consistency and dedication to a certain musical style, KARMA TO BURN, is a pretty good example. The West Virginia stoner rock/metal veterans, have been around since the 90’s. Despite, the many line-up changes, they have managed to keep their musical identity intact, throughout all these years.
With that being said, “Mountain Czar” features all the things you need and expect to hear from KARMA TO BURN. Heavy, groovy guitar riffs from William Mecum, accompanied by Evan Devine’s strong drumming and Eric Clutter’s intense bass lines. The song titles are numbers instead of names, as usual, while the strictly instrumental compositions bring out the band’s trademark jamming feeling. The tempos are mainly mid-paced, yet fairly uplifting.
The track listing also includes “Uccidendo Un Sogno”, a cover of TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS’ classic “Runnin’ Down a Dream” with the lyrics rewritten in Italian. The song brings an additional, swampy ZZ Top feeling, to the whole sound and features guest appearances of Stefanie Savy in vocals, giving a marvelous performance, and Manuel Bissing on lead guitar. Last but not least, like “Fifty Nine” on the “Arch Stanton” album, the ending track “Sixty-Three” contains a dialogue passage, from the classic spaghetti western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.
On one hand, one could say that “Mountain Czar” is too safe and lacks of innovative ideas. Well yes! Obviously, they don’t deliver something they haven’t done before. And yes, they may sometimes sound, like three guys just jamming in a garage. But on the other hand, their works, so far, have always been of high quality and their style is so unique, that we cannot hold a grudge upon them. “Mountain Czar”, is yet another decent and much enjoyable release and that’s all you want.
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