See You In Hell

Album review

See You in Hell! marks the unexpected return of Boston stoner rock posse Roadsaw after a half-decade sojourn that saw members involved with several different band projects (most notably the Southern rock infused Antler) but apparently none of them as satisfying as the place they originally called home. Hey, it happens. Now reunited for what amounts to their fifth studio album, the group gets right back to the business of rawkin' and, err...rawlin', just like in the old days; bridging the classic rock decades with their usual timeless ease, and certainly showing no sign of all the time that elapsed since they last recorded together. As such, introductory nuggets like "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Look Pretty Lonely" are chipped off the mountainside just as unpolished and rough-hewn as surviving Roadsaw fans would please; and along with subsequent foot-stomper "Up to You," they instantly renew the combustible, yet symbiotic relationship between vocalist Craig Riggs' emotive growl an guitarist Ian Ross' snarling guitars. But the bandmates are also frequently happy to shrug off their gruff exterior in order to weave more melodious tones and harmonies into tracks like "The Rules," "Leavin'," and what may be the best hybrid of both styles: the energetic, incredibly catchy "Go It Alone." Less striking than these are a handful of unusually slothful, at times downright anemic numbers, including "It's Your Move," the title track (both of which take a little too long going nowhere) and the Mellotron-assisted pair of "Dead Horse" and "Receive," which, likewise, never truly comes into focus. At the end of the day, though, See You in Hell! augurs a welcome resumption to Roadsaw's long-interrupted career, and now it's only a question of whether the band can make it last.
© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo