At the very least, this album is easily the
band’s most melodic to date. As if the polished production job wasn’t
noticeable enough, the vocals are much cleaner than before and the songwriting
also places greater emphasis on defined hooks and mid-tempo blues than before.
There’s still plenty of room for the band’s tried and true speed runs but they
seem to have more in common with the likes of Monster Magnet and The Obsessed
this time around.
It’d be easy to deem this a trend hopping move, but in reality, it reflects how much the band’s combined influences all have in common with one another. Stoner rock’s most primal roots may be in prog and 70s rock, but it was punk that really fed into its most aggressive, fuzz driven urges. Against the Grain has always been a band that was too metal for punk and too punk for metal, so them not being psychedelic enough to be stoner just makes for another fun little descriptor.
It’s also hard to complain when the songs on Cheated Death are this damned catchy. Songs like “High Heeled Woman” and “Into the Light” are sure to be live staples thanks to the energetic deliveries of their infectious choruses. “Devils and Angels” is also worth noting as its more subdued tempo in conjunction with its raspy vocal puts it somewhere between Clutch and Joe Bonamassa.
If Cheated Death isn’t Against the Grain’s best album, then it’s by far their most accessible. It really feels the band has come into its own between this album and Road Warriors. They offer the same mindless fun as past outings but there’s a noticeable effort to work toward a more unique sound. Hopefully this does prove to be a breakthrough for them; it’d be nice to see them blow some bigger acts offstage.
It’d be easy to deem this a trend hopping move, but in reality, it reflects how much the band’s combined influences all have in common with one another. Stoner rock’s most primal roots may be in prog and 70s rock, but it was punk that really fed into its most aggressive, fuzz driven urges. Against the Grain has always been a band that was too metal for punk and too punk for metal, so them not being psychedelic enough to be stoner just makes for another fun little descriptor.
It’s also hard to complain when the songs on Cheated Death are this damned catchy. Songs like “High Heeled Woman” and “Into the Light” are sure to be live staples thanks to the energetic deliveries of their infectious choruses. “Devils and Angels” is also worth noting as its more subdued tempo in conjunction with its raspy vocal puts it somewhere between Clutch and Joe Bonamassa.
If Cheated Death isn’t Against the Grain’s best album, then it’s by far their most accessible. It really feels the band has come into its own between this album and Road Warriors. They offer the same mindless fun as past outings but there’s a noticeable effort to work toward a more unique sound. Hopefully this does prove to be a breakthrough for them; it’d be nice to see them blow some bigger acts offstage.
Highlights:
“Smoke”
“Last Chance”
“Last Chance”
“Devils and Angels”
“High Heeled Woman”
“Into the Light”
Final Grade: B+
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