Righteous Fool: Righteous Fool

Back in 2009, Righteous Fool rose out of the ashes, or maybe it was Corrosion of Conformity, let’s see. The story goes something like this. In 2008, Reed Mullen (co-founder of Corrosion of Conformity), who had left CoC in 2001, got together with Bad Brains’ guitarist Jason Browning. The two had never met before but due to mutual musical acquaintances their paths were destined to cross. Reed wanted to start a band so the two got together to jam. The band needed a bass player, so Reed got his former CoC band member Mike Dean on board, and Righteous Fool was born. It should be noted this was never a CoC spin-off, the two bands coexisted and even played a few shows together on CoC’s Animosity tour.

They recorded their self-titled debut in 2012 but sadly it never saw the light of day, that is until 2022 when Ripple Music saw fit to give it the attention it deserved. Unfortunately, Reed never knew as he sadly passed away in 2020 (RIP). So, it is not surprising this is a bittersweet affair, for both the band and their fans.

The instrumental “Introduction� begins the disc in a surprising fashion with clean guitar having a hint of southern rock charm, before massive guitar riffs drenched in fuzz take over the soundscape. With the fast paced “Asteroid�, the vocals are partially buried amidst a mountain of riffage, straining to be heard. Some stellar drumming adds to the furious intensity. Just an excellent tune. “Shifty� is more technical with some nice shifts in tempo and changing guitar riffs. The fiery guitar solo and earth-shattering drumming continue the heavy onslaught. The band proves to be tight as hell on the up-tempo “Forever Flames�, a kind of mix of stoner, southern rock, and doom. And so it goes for the rest of the album with no weak tracks, solid from beginning to end.

A fine debut and though it took more than a few years to be released, the wait was certainly worth it! Ripple Music certainly knows talent when they hear it.

Track Listing:
1. Introduction (3:32)
2. Asteroid (2:27)
3. Shifty (3:30)
4. Forever Flames (4:24)
5. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) (5:14)
6. Heavy Is The Head (3:04)
7. The Overblown (3:27)
8. Hard Time Killing Floor (4:33)
9. Edict Of Worms (5:05)
10. Low Blow (4:31)
11. Vortex (4:20)

Added: June 16th 2024
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 325
Language: english

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