Review Summary: Who gets involved in it hardly finds out until the last note has died.
The term "Heavy Stoner Blues" may cause a lot of eye-rolling and gives reason to expect another trendy retro band. But all these eyebrow-raisers are to be warned of rash actions and should at least give the second album by Pet The Preacher an honest chance - it will be worth it!
You wouldn't expect such a band to come from Denmark and that conjecture can't be denied as most heavy music enthusiasts would think of metal legends Mercyful Fate or the popular and successful rock band Volbeat when they have the north European country with Norseman history in mind. Their influences range from Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath, even the king of boogie John Lee Hooker could be an inspirational source. One could describe their style between Monster Magnets playfulness and Baroness'esque heavy distorted moments.
With outbursts of sludge metal and parts with psychedelic blues riffs and gripping grooves not unlike Clutch's efforts, it seldom gets boring and never repetitive (not that this would be a bad thing).
Every instrument gets the opportunity to shine. The guitar sometimes feels heavy and on other occasions heavenly light when it comes to bluesy leads. “Remains” is a good example of this dynamics. The bass guitar is ever present and Pedersen also lays many impressive leads on the fretboard while it has a great crunchy feeling to it. Christian Larsen uses his kit to the fullest, ranging from powerful drum fills to again blues inspired grooves that make you whip your head. Excessive use of cymbals gives their sound more thickness and texture.
Another highlight are Christian Madsens impressive vocals as he's not only a skilled guitarist. Vibrant shouts and expressive powerful verses do their job to create a variable sound scenery. His voice fits their music perfectly in my humble opinion. The production is muddy and natural but one can still very clearly differentiate each instrument from another.
They can create really infectious riffs like in “Kamikaze Knight”, but also write lengthy tracks as the bonus track or “What Now” impressively show. Someone could even go so far and address them progressive tones in these songs. The only down point I could mention are some dull moments where it seems that nothing happens. But this criticism is on a very high level, as for me it adds to the atmosphere of the album. They are deeply in love with what they do, and that always stunned me as a listener.
These eleven songs that where captured on this second album "The Cave & The Sunlight" from Copenhagen's trio Pet The Preacher sound wonderfully caught in time and space. And who gets involved in it hardly finds out again until the last note has died.
Recommended Tracks:
Kamikaze Knight
The Web
Let Your Dragon Fly
Remains
