Dozer’s been around for about 14 years but I never paid any attention to them. Probably because Killdozer is one of my favorite bands I figured that just plain Dozer couldn’t match the herculean efforts of the Madison mad men. Turns out that was a dopey move on my part. Dozer’s 2008 album Beyond Colossal lives up to the title and makes them worthy to share the second syllable of Killdozer’s potent name.Hailing from Sweden, Dozer sound like if Union Carbide Productions worshipped Pentagram and early Alice Cooper instead of The Stooges and MC5. In reading some other reviews of this album I was surprised to see the band compared to Clutch, Fu Manchu and Kyuss. There’s definite similarities with those bands, but Dozer has a much darker and original sound. Maybe their past records are more generic, but Beyond Colossal offers a refreshing change of pace from the usual 3rd rate Black Sabbath rip offs usually found in the derivative “stoner rock” genre.
Having said that, opening song “The Flood” starts off with a riff that sounds like a faster version of Sabbath’s “Hole In the Sky” but with some definite psychedelic touches. This is a song that gets the Sabbath influence right – the rhythm section really swings, the guitars are heavy without being tuned down too far and there’s an actual melody. The vocals are distorted but not buried in the mix so you can hear the words clearly.
Songs like “Exoskeleton (Part II)” and “The Ventriloquist” sound like something Pentagram could have done in the 1970’s if they had access to a good studio and Bob Ezrin. The production on this record is very impressive. There’s a wide variety of guitar tones from clean to heavy to prevent the songs from getting monotonous. Tommi Holappa plays the leads and singer Fredrik Nordin plays rhythm. The bass is nicely distorted but still discernable from the guitars. My guess would be that Johan Rockner plays a Rickenbacker bass through a guitar head into a enormous bass cabinet. Always a good sound. Drummer Olle Marthans pounds some vintage tubs with considerable fury. Lots of killer fills and rolls that make you want to air drum along on your legs.
Neil Fallon of Clutch does guest vocals on the songs “Empire’s End” and “Two Coins For Eyes.” “Empire’s End” is fast and furious but has hints of Blondie’s “Call Me” in the melody. Neil has the audacity to actually sing “smoke on the wind” during his verse! “Two Coins For Eyes” is almost 7 minutes long that starts off slow and builds the tension and heaviness as it goes along. It goes through so many peaks and valleys it sounds like 2 or 3 different songs that flow together.
If the song “Grand Inquisitor” was released by Queens of the Stone Age you would be hearing it on modern rock radio right now. Too bad that will never happen. Dozer’s a band that deserves more than to be stuck in the “stoner rock” ghetto. This is the type of record that classic rock fans who complain that today’s music sucks would love. It’s rooted in the 70’s but not stuck there.
--Woody
buy here: Beyond Colossal
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