GOD'S REVOLVER

Somewhere in the Southwestern corner of the country sits a dusty little ghost-town, ravaged by the decay of time. Long forgotten by the writers of history and invisible to the dead imagination of modern man's eye, this town has a population of one. The lone citizen of this desert hamlet is as mysterious as the town itself. He stands a hardened and shadowy figure, beaten by the throes of a life less desired. His empty eyes speak of a man who has lost more than he has loved in his life and the silence that accompanies his presence screams louder than any sound ever heard. Where did he come from? Where is he going atop his black-as-night steed? Nobody knows. He is… the Dead Rider.

Okay, so that intro was probably more fitting for a B-grade Western flick or graphic novel, but it's the vibe I get from the desert western meets indie punk/hardcore vibe of Utah's GOD'S REVOLVER. With guitars that carry the gnarled, grisly tone you get from playing a beat-up Les Paul through a Marshall cabinet with slashed speakers bring a brand new breed of kick ass to the scene with a unique, yet familiar twist to the genre. "Dead Rider Theme/This Long And Lonely Drive To Hell" starts off with a sweet little slide blues lick before cranking up energy into full-on heavy rock with a slight hint of math tossed in. A very unpredictable band, if anything else, GOD'S REVOLVER run all over the musical map, especially on the Tex-Mex flavored jazz-cum-chaotic rock of "Roca Del Desierto" and "The Whole Breath", where a solemn wind flute carries a melody soon picked up by the rest of the band in THE DOORS-like bliss. Vocalist Reid Rouse comes across like a bastardized hybrid of Glenn Danzig and SICK OF IT ALL's Lou Koller. The former's influence is blatant on "Boxes Done Buried", which sounds like the dark one did a country tune. Wrought with a sense of angry confusion, "Drown Your Fucking Sorrows!" gives a revealing look into the past of the Dead Rider, while the band slams away behind Rouse with more of their bombastic heavy blues.

To try and pinpoint GOD'S REVOLVER's sound by comparing them to any of their peers would be a fruitless endeavor, to say the least, as nobody sounds quite like them despite their slew of influences. "Little Black Horse Where Are You Going With Your Dead Rider" is the wildly entertaining and bullshit-free byproduct of a punk band that listened to as many blues and classic country albums as they did BLACK FLAG discs. This is one of those discs that one you get into, you can't escape. With songs that capture your ears with hooks and your imagination with a story, GOD'S REVOLVER has produced an underground classic.