Alabama Thunderpussy

Relapse scooped Alabama Thunderpussy from the ashes of Man's Ruin to offer you their forth groove-laced, so-called "moonshine metal" full-length. Sure, their first disc was called Rise Again and they name checked Skynyrd, but they're about as Southern rock as Corrosion Of Conformity. Granted, they exhibit those influences, and they actually come from the South, but they also have enough aggressive metal might to shatter Ronnie VanZant's and Allan Collins's gravestones (not that they'd ever want to). They've also been falsely lumped into the co-called "stoner rock" movement, a comparison that fails to acknowledge that their metal influences go beyond 1975. Staring At The Divine sees the band losing some members but gaining a measure of focus that had been missing from previous recordings. Fans of their three previous records will not be disappointed by Staring At The Divine's melodically soulful grooves and metallic onslaughts. The final track, "Amounts That Count," shifts gears dramatically with a melodic old-time country lament that might make some metal heads want to "run to the hills" rather than come "down from the mountain," but that's what separates the wheat from the chaff. Staring At The Divine is for those who like their metal with a soul and a groove.