ALBUM REVIEW: Warriors – Monster Truck
Canada’s MONSTER TRUCK have always been one of those bands that you turn to when you need a kick ass, old school rock pick me up. Having built their reputation on big riffs, thundering rhythms, a howling rock organ and writing songs with a passionately ferocious energy, they are reliably and consistently what you expect and so much more. Fourth album Warriors sees them max out the amplifiers at 11 and go hell for leather to present you with a blistering half an hour of all out rock. The band once again teamed up with Chris Robertson of BLACK STONE CHERRY, as Jon Harvey shares the stage with the Kentucky frontman for the first time since THE CHERRY TRUCK BAND collaboration single Love Become Law. Immensely satisfying from start to finish, Warriors is an album that wants you to cut loose, let your hair down and let the good times roll.
Barrelling like a bourbon cask on fire, MONSTER TRUCK waste no time in getting you down and dirty with their soulful, bluesy brand of rock. There is a lot of passion, balls and heart in Warriors, and the band leave everything on the field of play. This is a mission statement album, no matter where life takes you, if you work hard and believe in yourself, good things will come to you and you’ll be ready for them. Every nook and cranny of this album is bursting with positivity, and it is impossible not to feel hyped up and happy whilst listening to the band’s big riffs and powerful gang vocals. This pure injection of serotonin into your soul is something akin to a spiritual experience, where pure happiness surrounds you and the warmth of good times comes in the form a giant hug from a brown bear.
The salt of the earth honesty transcends the album and is incredibly refreshing as it moves through all out classic rock to swampy blues with smatterings of country in between. Whilst Warriors contains the signature MONSTER TRUCK sound stamp, the band have once again pushed their limits and enjoyed doing so. Compared to 2018’s True Rockers, this album is a significantly more potent, powerful and primal record, as if the band have awoken and unleashed a beast that has been dormant for the last five years.
MONSTER TRUCK’s ambitions are even clearer on Warriors; as they seek to thrust themselves into the upper echelons of rock alongside the greats, they bring us on a thrilling ride with them. Fast and loose, the album is the perfect soundtrack to screeching down the vast highways of Canada and America, top down and hair blowing in the wind. Like moths to a lamp, the band’s melodies muster and manifest as a swarm of ear worms wriggling themselves into comfortable positions in your brain and staying there forevermore. This is one of Warriors absolute strengths – MONSTER TRUCK have made sure that you will have a good time listening to this album with catchy hook after catchy hook after catchy hook.
Opening up the album with the title track, the harmonised riffs immediately capture your attention before the song erupts into pure anthemic rock fury. A thundering rhythm and powerful lyrics awaken your inner warrior and put you in the mood to face all your challenges head on. Fuzz Mountain sees the band channel a BLACK SABBATH influence, with an old school bluesy riff and an imposing rock organ. Golden Woman is the classic song about an attractive woman, but MONSTER TRUCK put their own spin on it. With a bombastic riff this is a party centric song with a southern-fried tinge to it; it smirks at you, tongue in cheek with an audacious wink.
Live Free is a slower but intensely anthemic song that, much like Warriors, pumps you up and tells you to enjoy what you’ve got, as well as living and loving freely. Country Livin’ brings in the swampy, Florida country vibes, slide guitar and all. The gospel backing vocals make this the most soulful song on the album. Get My Things & Go ramps up the blues and brings the album back down to earth with blistering guitar solos and a classic southern style riff. Wild Man is – unsurprisingly – the most untamed track on Warriors, another hyped-up song that hits harder than the other aforementioned ones and it leads into Still Got Fire. The album closer is a rousing end to a bombastic record, and proves that MONSTER TRUCK have got all the fire they need and some damn good stories to tell.
MONSTER TRUCK have once again encouraged us all to go out, let loose and have a good time. Passionate and energetic from start to finish, Warriors will no doubt take the Canadians into the rock stratosphere.
Rating: 8/10
Warriors is set for release on September 30th via BMG.
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