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The US crossover band Stuck Mojo is back with a new album - The Great Revival! After the short intro Worshipping A False God they head right into 15 Minutes Of Fame! And during the first moments of this track it becomes quite clear that Stuck Mojo are still playing a blend of heavy metal and rap vocals, but they spice it up with Southern rock elements and catchy hooks. Heavy riffs and melodic vocals make it easy to get into the new album. At the following tune Friends they got support by singer Christie Cook, with her they create a slightly different sound. And even if I had my doubts, it works out great. A real highlight!
With something that sounds to me like a sitar they start into The Flood, here they combine Indian sounds with ultra-heavy riffs. The vocals of Lord Nelson vary between rap, melodic vocal parts and growls. For There's A Doctor In Town they use again a passage from some speech which is an interlude to The Fear. Fast riffing, pounding drums kick this one off, but then Christie Cook's vocals take off the edge a bit - for a moment. It's like she is fighting against the wall of guitars, then you hear laughter. And it's over. A short, somehow disturbing tune. Again an interlude of spoken words... taken off a speech? And then they surprise everybody with Country Road! The country rocker is kicking off heavy, but then back to basics - acoustic guitar and vocals. Wouldn't have expected this, but very cool! They managed to combine the heavy country rock tune with a passage of rap vocals. Some parts are close to the original, other parts differ. Also the lyrics are different - they sing about North Carolina instead of West Virginia. Very unique!
At Invincible Lord Nelson make me think of Gorillaz - just a metal version of them. Perhaps it's just the tone and the way he raps... Anyway, this one is catchy and again Christie Cook got the chance to add her voice. I should also mention the great guitar work of Rich Ward and Mike Martin and the powerful playground created by bassist Sean Delson and drummer Steve Underwood. And the final touch the songs got due to the powerful production of Rick Beato (Shinedown, Bullet For My Valentine, Vince Neil) and Andy Sneap (e.g. Megadeth, Machine Head, Nevermore). The last one you get is Superstar Part 1 and 2 - but they stick to their musical mix, so no surprises. But they also won't disappoint you!
Actually Stuck Mojo surprised me with this album! The songs offer variety, a unique blend and shows that crossover is still alive!
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