Bombus are a band that went under the radar for me until December, when I was off to London to witness the glory of Clutch, who they were touring with as main support. Having not done what I usually do with support acts and checked them out beforehand, I had gone in blind, and they blew me away. Somehow playing with a real blend of rock and metal, I found it hard to be able to say exactly what overall style they fell under. Their sound comprises tough and coarse vocals; a tight, heavy rocking guitar duo that could lay waste to most without effort; bass lines that could cause earthquakes; and drums that are so thunderously loud even Thor would be proud. To top all that, they would barely stand still more than a few seconds through their set, owning that stage and bringing a level of showmanship that only Neil Fallon of Clutch himself could top. Needless to say, finding the latest release of Bombus to review brought all that excitement back like it was yesterday, and most certainly had me intrigued as to whether they could capture that excitement from the stage onto an album.
‘Eyes on the Price‘ is the album opener, starting out rocking heavy and loud, all the elements of them live seem to have instantly carried over to the studio, and its one hell of a tune to grab you with. Following up comes ‘Rust‘, showcasing a great catchy, rocking attitude; one that could almost get away with commercial radio play. ‘Deadweight‘ brings back the more metal side, catching vocals yet again, they are unmistakable, the writing style and riffs of the track bring to mind the likes of Baroness and Mastodon.
They go for a larger overall sound with ‘I Call You Over‘, a much more mellow side shows through with a cleaner, more open feeling. Despite the relatively short time of 4:08, it does show a great side to them; I would have preferred a little more length in the track for it to really grow and swell into something with epic proportion – it definitely has the potential but that aside, it’s controlled well. Title track ‘Repeat Until Death‘ has a feel of some of the lighter, really commercial side of rock that I really dislike, but Bombus seem to have that little something that keeps my interest despite the commercial feel of it. ‘You The Man‘ is where the rocking attitude really come out taking no prisoners, while ‘Get Your Cuts‘ slows the pace to see you out.
Sitting at just over a half hour long, it’s one I could stick on to enjoy time and again. The only downside is how commercial some of it sounds; maybe the excitement and energy of their live performance just wears thin through the album. Never the less, it’s a strong release, enough to really make me seek out their previous release ‘The Poet and the Parrot‘.
