GREENLEAF ‘Hear The Rivers’ Album Review.

Words El Jefe.

Sweden, a country that has produced some of the greatest rock’n’roll known to man in the past couple of decades, and is showing no sign whatsoever of letting up. Thank fuck. The Awesome Machine, The Hellacopters, Truckfighters, Silver Devil just to name a few. Purebred rock’n’roll, one and all. Which brings me to Greenleaf. They began as a side band for Tommi Holappa of Dozer, but in 2009, in the wake of Dozer announcing their hiatus, Greenleaf climbed into the driver’s seat, dropped the clutch and hit the road albeit with Tommi being the only constant member throughout their existence. Their recent tour of Australia was also an excellent showcase for what a behemoth these guys are. So now, several LP’s later, released with an almost frightening regularity brings us to Hear The Rivers, yet another epic collection of tunes by Greenleaf.

‘Let It Out’ kicks things off with a stomping drumbeat, and a snarl of over-distorted bass soon follows. Tommi’s guitar and Arvid Hällagård’s vocals link the whole shebang together.

‘Good Ol’ Goat’ wouldn’t be outta place on a Clutch record, with Sebastian “Kongo” Olsson’s drums playing a prominent role in the song structure much the way JP does with Clutch.

‘We Are The Pawns’ has an ominous creep to it, both musically, and lyrically.

‘Oh My Bones’ is a more straight ahead riffrock tune, powering through the dirty riffs like they’re heading to the pub on Friday, with ‘High Fever’ offering more of the same.

The dudes seem to have held back the best ‘til last with ‘The Rivers Lullaby’. Eight minutes long, and as dynamic as they come. Slow-build through to ball-out riff blasting. This is why ya don’t eat ya dessert BEFORE ya dinner kids!

Hear The Rivers is some great stoner / riffrock. Well produced, well written, and well-played. But then again, Greenleaf set the bar high from the get-go and seem to always be up for the challenge. Arvid’s vocal wail is a neat selling point, with a different tonal approach to a lotta frontmen in this genre, and the band ably backs him up.

Greenleaf’s Hear The Rivers is out November 9 through Napalm Records and is available now for pre-order HERE. 

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