Swedish hard rockers The Brimstone Days of course reside on the excellent Transubstans Records, and their new release The Healer is a safe bet for anyone who is looking for some groove laden '70s hard rock fun. I'm talking about Free, The Faces, Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Humble Pie...yeah, you get the picture. The Brimstone Days certainly aren't reinventing the wheel here, but instead want to make sure that the wheel keeps on rolling with tunes like "We Come in Peace", "Matter of Moments", and "Bag of Bones". Plenty of attitude and swagger to be found throughout the album, as Johannes (Drums), Håkan (Guitar, Vocals), and Hampe (Bass, Backing Vocals) lock into a groove and just deliver solid, melodic, classic styled rock 'n' roll. "Clap Your Hands" reminds a little of vintage Lynyrd Skynyrd, and "Miss Understood" contains some rootsy funk that wouldn't have sounded out of place on some of those early Black Crowes albums.
If I have any complaint about The Healer, it's that in a few spots I would have loved to hear them REALLY rock out. Some of these tunes just deserved to be heavier (like "Stubborn" for instance) and I think beefing up the guitar tones might be done the trick. Otherwise, this is a very solid album of classic rock sounds, and a band to keep a close eye on.
Track Listing
1. Black And Blue
2. We Come In Peace
3. Matter Of Moments
4. Clap Your Hands
5. Bag Of Bones
6. Nightmare Is Here
7. The Healer
8. Miss Understood
9. Hold Me
10. I Won`t Let You Go
11. Stubborn