We Hunt Buffalo's Blood From a Stone is a slick and heavy affair

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      Blood From a Stone (Independent)

      If there’s a place in your life for loudness, make room in your heart for We Hunt Buffalo. Lots of room: Blood From a Stone might have only four songs, but each one is a gi-fucking-normous slab of paint-stripping stoner rock.

      The new EP was recorded by students at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts after We Hunt Buffalo won studio time there in a competition last spring. It was mixed and mastered, however, by seasoned pro Alex “Condor” Aligizakis, whose CV includes work with the likes of Nickelback and Hedley. That goes a long way toward explaining why, in contrast to last year’s self-titled debut LP, Blood From a Stone sounds not only slicker but heavier. The five-ton-wrecking-ball riffs that power the title track and “Telepathic Lies” are earth-shaking enough to make Kyuss fans weep with joy and to give Tony Iommi Himself spontaneous wood.

      If there’s a downside to having everything amped up to 11, it’s that We Hunt Buffalo—which, for the record, comprises singer-guitarist-keyboardist Ryan Forsythe, bassist Brendan Simpson, and drummer Brandon Carter—has lost some of its dynamic range. Then again, this isn’t a band known for its quiet moments, and at four songs, Blood From a Stone is over before ear fatigue can set in.

      On the lyrical end, there’s a palpable sociopolitical conscience emerging in We Hunt Buffalo. “Hometown”, for example, is a lament for a city in which the wishes of real-estate developers trump such trifling matters as the preservation of heritage and the welfare of the citizenry. I don’t know what city Forsythe is singing about, but it couldn’t possibly be Vancouver, could it?

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Jerry Kalburn

      Jul 14, 2014 at 4:40pm

      Specifically Langley, But yes, Vancouver.