Doomriders

Long-suffering Jesuit fans (whatever happened to that half-finished sophomore album?) hoping that former Jesuit bassist/current Converge sonic reducer Nate Newton’s Doomriders project might result in a similar sonic grating will be taken aback by Black Thunder. In fact, even fans of Converge and Deathwish Inc. might balk initially at the Riders, but that’s not because Black Thunder isn’t insanely heavy. Riding a massive Sabbath-ian wave of, well, doom, thunderous heaviness is not lacking in the Riders’ camp. But whereas Converge, and even Jesuit, err on the side of abrasion, Doomriders bring the boogie with the battery. Elements of Cathedral (The Ethereal Mirror days, not their "Dark oceans we cry, writhing in the misery” origins), Mastodon, Thin Lizzy-ish Southern rock, Danzig-ish blues metal (circa I, II, III) and bits of former DWI standouts Cursed (more Sabbath, less hardcore punk though) are all evident in Black Thunder’s dark embrace. Although, truth be told, with Nate’s pedigree and that of his band (featuring members of There Were Wires, Cast Iron Hike, etc.) at times you want Doomriders to be more menacing and less "yeahmen” appealing. But while hardcore kids won’t no which way to mosh, fans of "rock the fuck out” metal will win as long as they bet on Black Thunder.