TRUCKFIGHTERS

Forged amid the dying flames and simmering embers of a stoner rock scene that had all but burned itself out, TRUCKFIGHTERS have kept the genre's flag flapping in the wind throughout the 21st century. From the fuzz-shrouded innocence of debut album "Gravity X" (2005) to the more nuanced amp abuse of 2016's "V", the Swedes have made a habit of confounding the notion that stoner rock lacks depth or diversity. Clearly mindful of the fact that attempts to outstrip the achievements of certified greats like KYUSS, FU MANCHU and LOWRIDER are pointless, chief protagonists Ozo (bass / vocals) and Dango (guitar) have cultivated a more adventurous sound that uses big, distorted riffs as a launchpad for a more eccentric strain of songwriting.

"Masterflow" arrives a full decade after the band's previous album (the aforementioned "V"),but anyone hoping for some radical change in TRUCKFIGHTERS' musical outlook will be swiftly disavowed of their blasphemous desires. As ever, the band's staple diet is massive riffs, dense clouds of fuzz, and nimble, desert-dwelling grooves, but the ingenuity that made previous albums so entertaining has also been dusted off and given another inspirational spin. Nestling in amongst more straight-ahead, stoner-friendly fare like "Old Big Eye" and "The Bliss", songs like the authentically pretty "Truce" — a blissed-out, roots rock ballad — and the gently retro "Gath" — which sounds like WITCHCRAFT if they were to swap their horse 'n' cart for a flame-adorned muscle car — point to a further broadening of the Swedes' musical horizons. Stripped back and minimal, "Bad Horse" offers a melancholy take on traditional road-trip riffing, with agile vocal melodies that flitter across the song's underlying, sturdy bedrock. Meanwhile, the closing "Goin' Home" seems to be batting its eyelashes at '90s post-hardcore (and FUGAZI in particular) while still fulfilling its fuzzed-out responsibilities.

The greatest moments come when TRUCKFIGHTERS step outside their usual wheelhouse and run freely into unknown pastures. "Carver" is a glorious, six-minute indulgence, with a bass intro that nods towards Steve Harris' many MAIDEN overtures, and multiple transitions, from fuzzy to ferocious and back again, that have more than a little prog rock DNA hurtling along their arteries. As they switch tempos and make atmospheric about-turns that cheer the stoner soul, TRUCKFIGHTERS are basking in their own iridescent sense of adventure. They have always been a band with a strong grasp of how to make timeless, era-evading music, but here their leaps of compositional faith are considerably more effective and calculated than in the past, and the results are hugely impressive.

Of course, nobody approaches a TRUCKFIGHTERS album without the expectation that there will be at least a few songs that crank up the fuzz and revel in the overwhelming riffness of things. "The Gorgon" is a gleaming testament to the duo's enduring ability to wring freshness from fusty source material. Lethally catchy, neck deep in disintegrating guitar noise, and blessed with several laudably simple but exhilarating riffs, it reveals finely honed pop sensibilities and irresistible undercurrents of big rock bravado, all wrapped up in a languorous, six-minute sprawl. It is still the ideal accompaniment for getting stoned in the desert, but Ozo and Dango's cosmic aspirations have long since raced away from the most obvious cliches. TRUCKFIGHTERS are heading further and further out, but still with their feet on the ground.