I liked The Darkness. There was a bit more to them than just ‘Spinal Tap’-ish metal satirism, and Stone Gods are, basically, The Darkness minus charismatic frontman Justin, although I suspect he isn’t very far from one or two of the thirteen tracks which make up this particular slice of metal mayhem.
The Darkness’ chief strength as a band was their versatility, and Stone Gods continue this. There isn’t anything in the rule book to prevent a thumping great headbang of a tune from suddenly veering off into a jazz-funk workout halfway through, or their borrowing guitar tricks from bands as diverse as UFO and Judas Priest (these sound a lot different to the cognoscienti, trust me).
Both bands hark back to a forgotten time of mystery and mysticism, the early 80s. A time when bands such as Saxon, Queensryche, Motorhead and Def Leppard set the festivals alight and launched a million jacket patches. So if your tastes run to old-school riffola and pseudo -esoteric lyrical conceits, then Stone Gods ought to find their way onto your stereo.
Popularity: 3% [?]
