A punchy drum beat, a big bass throb, a filthy riff, a massive shout and yeah Flamebearer are back and it feels good!
Flamebearer are a veteran band from the doom/stoner underground scene, brought together through the love of the riff to create doom punk, dank and heavy but propulsive and volatile.
Their EP and debut album were well received, reviewed and loved by yours truly so when the the London based band returned with their second album, Igniter and it hit my inbox, it went straight on, and the dial was turned right up.
What I notice is that, like their debut Brazen, the immediacy of this record is paramount, these are tracks written for the stage, the filth and fury of basement clubs, where everyone gets hot and sweaty down the front, they've been all over the country with their debut so they've had time to hone these songs and figure out where they want to go next as a band.
The result is this more streamline, direct second album, they've injected their energy into Igniter, with the bluesy, stoner meets heavy rock of Electric Haze, the first track on the record, setting the tone immediately for what's about to happen over the remaining 7 incendiary cuts.
Flamebearer manage to juggle their influences perfectly, Orange Goblin one minute, Clutch the next, then some Ozzy (solo) even a bit of RJD Rainbow, throw in some punk and even some glam and you get the Flamebearer, who I like to refer to as the British equivalent of Corrosion Of Conformity, a band with both punk and stoner/doom DNA, especially when they sling fuzzy riffs like Don't Think (Your Life Away)
However Flamebearer like to keep you guessing and as long as it's loud and raucous they'll get behind hit which means that Bow Down To Me has the hip shaking glam grooves and dual vocal approach of Queens Of The Stone Age, the rhythm section of bassist Dom Bailey and drummer Tiago Pinho, always keeping the engine running nice and hot as the slip between their various guises and influences.
Brazen set the table, Igniter is the feast, written after bouts touring you can hear muscle and peacocking of their livewire shows coming through this record, Sense Of Freedom having an intensity behind it that will surely get frontman Andy Valiant writhing like a madman when they take these songs on the road, so too will the gang vocal thrust of Falling Down.
On the record he's also unhinged, his vocals are all over the place from bellowing cleans to snarls, tracks such as Burning Soul feels like two distinct vocalists but that's all part of the program on planet Flamebearer as even when Andy is shouting his head off, the rhythm section has everything locked down tight for Alastair Riddell's exemplary guitar work.
His playing isn't about how many notes he can hit, though there's plenty of speedy 80's metal solos, more so than on Brazen, but he's more about the riff, giving the song it's bare bones, he's the doom punk at cornerstone of the band, always playing it distorted and dirty, through fist swinging punk with those bursts of metallic excellence, for instance Something Going On.
The riffs are louder but the whole ethos of this record is to make something catchier and Flamebearer have succeed with that as once the atmospheric dooming of Whispering Wind finished I wanted to press play again and go back for more, the production of Misha Hering at Holy Mountain studios, adding the toughness and retro perception but keeping it contemporary as they try to recreate their performance volume here.
Brazen was the sound of band breaking down the door and announcing their arrival, Igniter is Flamebearer taking a sledgehammer and matches to the rest of the room, with a record that is pure unfiltered (punk) rock n (doom) roll, so my suggestion is just sit back, watch it all burn and turn the volume as loud as it'll go! 10/10
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