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Words Mark Ireland.
Immediacy is the first word that come to mind as soon as the track ‘Doom Boogie’ drops first on the El Colosso album, Pathways. Its relentless riffs never let go, vocalist Matt Cooper is an absolute powerhouse monster of a singer, reminiscent of all my favourite singers from the last 20 years; Layne Staley, Chris Cornell and a million other in between his pitch and range are out of this world, he holds the words in such taut tight control, that you become breathless in awe.
The single ‘Leatherhead’ is a perfect first release, its groove heavy rhythm will have you punching holes in the walls and screaming with ecstatic pleasure.
‘The Hunted’ just pulverises your ears until a river of blood is flowing.
The title track ‘Pathways’, has more ridiculously heavy riffling that entrances you so deep that not even a trained hypnotist could wake you up!
The production by Finn Keane really brings out the best in all the band members, its hard as fuck crunchy guitars are brought to the forefront, and Cooper’s vocals are mixed perfectly with the other entire fracas going on.
The pinnacle of the album is definitely the last track ‘Moving Mountains’. It’s a cultivation of everything that came before with extra added guitar by mighty Dave Ferguson from Fuck the Fitzroy Doom Scene, so you know you won’t be escaping unscathed, nothing will prepare you for it, so don’t even try to resist, just sit back and get sucked into the wind tunnel and get lost in the music.
I’m going out on a limb and saying Pathways is one of the best metal albums Australia has produced in years. It is absolutely world class, get amongst it and thank the band later.
El Colosso’s Pathways album is out now on CD and digitally. Vinyl is out any day so keep an eye out on their FB page as well as pre-order on Bandcamp so you don’t miss out!