The title track of Black Thunder is arguably the best track a 'hard-corized' Thin Lizzy never wrote; it treats classic rock as if it were the renegade child of an 80's CBGB's matinee. Second track "The Long Walk", keeps the album in that tradition; melodic guitars up-front, thundering bass lines, brutal throaty vocals kept to a minimum, and redundant drums demarking the borders. This is a real treat and the best mix of quality classic rock and raw brutality since...ever. It is particularly surprising how refreshing Black Thunder is, to a degree the material that a band like Mastodon crafts is of the same measurements; as it is obviously likened by a hardcore past through a crusty punk edge and to a classic metal end. Particularly interesting is how well these relative genres get along; in occasions, like during the sweetly titled "Fuck This Shit", the fellas spit all the rage they are allowed, and come off sounding like a mere hardcore band, but Doomriders are especially brilliant at channeling certain New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands and updating their sound.

Special kudos should be given to producer Kurt Ballou (Converge), who has enlightened this record with his traditional brute approach and a classic Entombed-like guitar girth, but whose angle makes the best of Doomriders' take on rock n' roll. Formed by Nate Newton (Coverge, Old Man Gloom), Jebb Riley (There Were Wires), Chris Pupecki (Cast Iron Hike) and Chris Bevalaqua (Hellraker), Doomriders would make any fearless old school metalhead proud; it exudes energy with hell bent for leather riffs and it masters any traditionalist's puppets take on classic rock. Recorded primarily in a live setting, Black Thunder not only excels at showing off flawless songwriting, but also shows a very simple side to these lifers; "The Chose' for instance, has the simplest guitar arrangements in a rock album since Kiss dropped the make up and released the lame ass Lick It Up. Now that may be a silly comparison, but is riffs like this which when played by anyone could cause an immediate dismissal from the listener, but when executed with this refined attitude come off as totally authentic and, ironically enough, really refreshing.

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Listen to the song “Black Thunder”