SPIRITUAL BEGGARS

It's been a while since I last checked out Spiritual Beggars, live or recorded... to be precise, 2002's 'On Fire' album and subsequent 2003 tour with Clutch. Okay, I know, I've got some serious catching up to do although based on latest studio effort 'Earth Blues', the Swedes are every bit as retro in their stoner metal stylings as they've ever been, over a decade on. That's what I always loved 'em for and, based on this groovy bastard of stoner magnificence, it's an utter joy submerging myself once again in the Beggars musically regressive world. So, just who constitutes Spiritual Beggars in 2013? Well, founding member and Arch Enemy/ex-Carcass axeman Michael Amott is still present, as is sticksman Ludwig Witt and ex-Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg. Amott's Arch Enemy bandmate Sharlee D'Angelo has been lending his bass talents to the Beggars since 2005 and this release marks ex-Firewind frontman Apollo Papathanasio's second studio album singing with the Swedish troupe since he joined their ranks in 2010. The quintet's combined talents gel to perfection here in what's a very natural sounding set of compositions that were initially recorded in just eight days within a 'live' context in the studio... that perhaps explains the jam-like undercurrent that characterises much of the music and its concomitant energy. Some post-productions edits, overdubs and mixing has obviously given the final product a degree of polish and sonic perfection although this still sounds like Spiritual Beggars on fire (ironic considering my last encounter with the band). And the 'energy' inherent in the music is also derived from the largely up-tempo nature of the tracks which is generally true of the album in its entirety give or take the occasional mid-tempo moments ('Kingmaker') or rarer down-tempo structures ('Dreamer'). So we're not dealing with a laid-back stoner vibe here, rather a full-on dynamic attack of up-tempo grooves. And therein lies the album's stoner heart - it's all in the grooves rather than the tempo. Occasional passages of music (and I do mean very occasional), at least melodically, bring to mind Arch Enemy but that's no surprise considering Amott's songwriting presence - 'Hello Sorrow' is perhaps the most obvious with a leading lick that sounds borrowed from Maiden's 'Fear of the Dark'. Overall, though, with 'Earth Blues', Spiritual Beggars have delivered fifty minutes of up-tempo stoner metal bliss.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Inside Out

Album

EARTH BLUES

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

50:07

RELEASE DATE:

15th April 2013

TRACK LISTING

1) Wise as a Serpent
2) Turn the Tide
3) Sweet Magic Pain
4) Hello Sorrow
5) One Man's Curse
6) Dreamer
7) Too Old to Die Young
8) Kingmaker
9) Road to Madness
10) Dead End Town
11) Freedom Song; 12) Legends Collapse

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Sweden

"...we're not dealing with a laid-back stoner vibe here, rather a full-on dynamic attack of up-tempo grooves. And therein lies the album's stoner heart - it's all in the grooves rather than the tempo."