Miss Lava: Blues For The Dangerous Miles

Now putting aside one of the worst album covers I've seen in quite some time – I presume there is a connection between the band's name and the oozing female orifice in the middle of the text, it has to said that the debut release from Lisbon's Miss Lava is a mighty statement of intent. The information I received about the band said that Miss Lava are a heavy stoner outfit and that is true, however I actually think that description does this four piece a disservice. The term stoner immediately conjures up the thought of huge, slow slabs of guitar, dense bass lines and blues soaked yet spacey vocals and while there is an aspect of that on Blues For The Dangerous Miles, there is also so much more.

Incorporating aspects of Sabbath style metal and heavy blues to a mix of sleaze and straight ahead hard rock and roll, Miss Lava have written a collection of catchy hook packed songs that contain enough force to hit with the power of an iron fist. Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, InMe, Paradise Lost etc.) mixed and mastered the album and the results are sonically stunning when cranked up to ear bleeding levels. The guitar work of K. Raffah is immense and whether it is the almost progressive rock meets a punked up Status Quo jamming with Vain sass of "Black Rainbow", the stinging solo on "Birth Copulation and Death" or the Sabbathy doom of "The Wait", all the six string work is of the highest order. Backbone of the foursome is S.Rebelo and J. Garcia on bass and drums respectively who rumble, pound and thump their way through each and every song with enough force to blast through mountains and it is their power that really makes the songs hit with the memorable might that they do. Not to be left out singer Johnny Lee, who looks like a bare knuckle fighter, possesses an impressive and powerful set of lungs that not only stun with their brutality, but are infused with the kind of Jack Daniels soaked melody and character that grabs your attention from start to finish.

Taken as a whole the album is a muscular ride that impacts with its strength and subtlety in equal amounts, making for a hugely striking experience. Not many bands are putting out music with this amount of power and groove that could as easily appeal to lovers of Clutch or The Electric Boys. Mountainous riffs, grooving bass lines, hooks galore and bags of melody – it shouldn't work, but boy does it! This is one eruption you don't need to run from.

Track Listing
1. Don't Tell A Soul
2. Revolt
3. Black Rainbow
4. Ain't Got Time
5. Blues For The Dangerous Miles
6. Shine On
7. The Wait
8. Blind Dog
9. Second Chance
10. Birth Copulation and Death
11. Scorpio

Added: June 13th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Miss Lava MySpace
Hits: 2110
Language: english

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