SPIRITUAL BEGGARS „Demons”

Music: Heavy Rock/Stoner
Country: Sweden
Website: http://www.spiritualbeggars.com
http://www.insideout.de
Duration: 49.00.


Cool Songs: Throwing Your Life Away, One Man Army, Treading Water, Dying Every Day, Through the Halls, No One Heard.

It’s with regular monotony that we get slung with a new Arch Enemy disc every two years or so. Main man Michael Amott is one prolific song writer. However, as much as I look forward the riff work that he unleashes on every AE instalment, it is what he does with his Spiritual Beggars band that really rocks my world. Along with Clutch, these guys are just about the best thing around at the moment. The Spiritual Beggars also have to be the most underrated side project in the history of heavy music. Formed in 1992, and now with six full lengths under their belt, it simply astounds me that every second reviewer still feels the need to ‘introduce’ the band to the metal community. Fuck, as far as I am concerned, if you don’t know about Michael Amott and The Spiritual Beggars by now, you’re just not listening.

The Spiritual Beggars have never failed to floor me with their modern take on the classic 70’s rock ethic. Their earlier albums probably didn’t have the consistency, but ever since ‘Ad Astra’ and 2003’s ‘On Fire’, SB have been firing on all cylinders. ‘Demons’ does nothing but maintain that standard. I’m not sure that it tops ‘On Fire’, but really the argument is entirely superfluous such is the high level of song writing and overall execution that this band is able to capture.

Perhaps the greatest aspect about SB is their ability to write songs that deal in not only the classic rock riff (ala Deep Purple, Sabbath and The Who) but also that essential characteristic called soul. The feeling, passion and attitude conveyed over the entire of this superbly crafted disc should be bottled and sold to all up and coming acts who want a lesson in how to ROCK. And how does this shit ROCK!! Amott seems to have an endless supply of infectious riffs to call upon – whether it be on full blown belters like ‘One Man Army’ or ‘Throwing You Life Away’ to funk inspired anthems such as ‘Dying Ever Day’ to the darker brooding moments of ‘Through the Halls’ and ‘No One Heard’ – deeply rooted in the 70’s vintage feel but laced with an emotive passion and depth that makes each of his songs so overtly charismatic. Wrap it up in Per Wilberg’s ‘Jon Lord/Purple’ infected Hammond keyboards, Sharlee D’Angelo’s throbbing bottom end, the simply captivating vocals of JB plus a thick, retro sounding Fredrick Nordstrom production and really, heavy rock doesn’t get much better than this.

It’s debatable that ‘Demons’ loses some steam at the back end of the album with ‘Elusive’ and ‘Sleeping with One Eye Open’ not quite capturing the consistency of the rest of the album. Fortunately, choosing to end the album with the dark, brooding ‘No One heard’ makes up for this slight downtime in quality. Still, it is without doubt that ‘Demons’ is one of the more authentic sounding metal/rock albums of the year. Sure it draws from a very deep well of influences, but the conviction that SB lay down on this cannot be ignored. Amott is a riff god – his hooks, his solos drip with a fervour and passion that need to be heard by all that worship a great heavy rock song. ‘Demons’ is loaded with them. Watch for the limited edition release which features an eight track live set recorded in 2003 in Japan. Just like ‘Demons’ it smokes!

note: 8.8/10

Tracklist

Inner Strength (intro)
Throwing Your Life Away
Salt in Your Wounds
One Man Army
Through the Halls
Treading Water
Dying Every Day
Born to Die
Born to Die (reprise)
In My Blood
Elusive
Sleeping with One Eye Open
No One Heard

Disc 2: Live in Japan
Monster Astronauts
Angel of Betrayal
Young Man, Old Soul
Wonderful World
Blind Mountain
Guitar Solo
Look Back
Not Fragile (Jam)