BARN BURNER

If there’s one thing that Barn Burner does well, it’s fusing galloping Iron Maiden riffs and post-Sabbath stoner rock into theme tunes for beer-drenched bandits in the midst of a bar room brawl. That is, with their tongues well and firmly in cheek of course. Coming two years after their debut album, ‘Bangers’ – a decadent, drunk, and driving collection of full-on, party-hard rock tunes –‘Bangers II: Scum of the Earth’ picks up the broken glass of the previous night’s revelry and lays down ten more shots in readiness for the next bout. The first animal that bolts from the burning barn is the title track where stoner metal-meets-NWOBHM in the hard-hitting, crooked riffs and franticly paced Iron Maiden galloping riffs. From here, Sabbath-styled doom, the odd utterance of thrash, and stoner vibes fuel the alcoholic daze, and ‘Keg Stand and Deliver’, ‘The Earth’s Crust’ and ‘Quest for the Cube’ provide little departure from what’s been done already. Bringing a welcome change to the relentless barrage, ‘Brother Fear’ slows the tempo down for a mighty groove with a stoner vibe and a solo straight out of the 70s. ‘Skid Marks The Spot’ is an energetic blast with some wickedly cool riffs in the latter half. ‘Crushing Defeat’ is laden with heavy Sabbath-infused doom riffs and brings no surprises. But blues-infused closer ‘Ghost Jam’ is, along with the title track and ‘Brother Fear’, another standout track that rescues the album from being more than a duplication of its predecessor. Though the mighty riffs could do more damage than a constipated elephant munching on laxatives, it’s the big grooves and tasty fills in the drum work that standout across the album, urging each song on to provide a solid foundation for the guitar and vocal work. The production here too is an improvement over their debut. The bass, grumbling along like a cantankerous, inebriated, and toothless old guy that won’t go away, can be heard and the interplay with the drums can be fully appreciated. As the title suggests, ‘Bangers II: Scum of the Earth’ is a sequel and not much more than the same that was delivered two years ago. Picture them ringing Eddie’s doorbell and then running away to watch him stamp out the fire on his porch to discover it’s a bag of dog shit, and that’s what you get here. Nothing to shout about but their head-banging, wall-of-sound, everything-heavier-than-everything-else, riff-rich attitude makes for a fun forty minutes.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Blade

Album

BANGERS II: SCUM OF THE EARTH

Review by Jason Guest

RUNNING TIME:

41:58

RELEASE DATE:

6th June 2011

TRACK LISTING

1) Scum of the Earth
2) Dark Side of the Barn
3) Gate Creeper
4) Keg Stand and Deliver
5) The Earth's Crust
6) Quest for the Cube
7) Brother Fear
8) Skid Marks the Spot
9) Crushing Defeat
10) Ghost Jam

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Canada

"Nothing to shout about but their head-banging, wall-of-sound, everything-heavier-than-everything-else, riff-rich attitude makes for a fun forty minutes."