Out now
Weathermaker Music
Apologies to you readers and purveyors of the finer hard rock delights in life for submitting the latest CLUTCH album Sunrise On Slaughter Beach a few days after release, but I have a reasonable excuse…It arrived on my desk on the evening before its release and I have only now just been able to put pen to paper so to speak (Having written this I have listened to their new album no less than ten times over the past day and a half!) Let it be said; I fucking love Clutch! Coming in fairly late though only discovering them in 2013 when Earth Rocker saw the light of day (How the bloody hell they eluded me for so long is a mystery that I can not fathom or begin to explain!). What caught me was their addictive and hypnotic riffs, groove cohesion plus sonically refusing to be drawn or typecast into any hard/heavy musical realm. One thing about Clutch is that the second you hear Tim Sult’s stoner fuzz fueled guitar or Neil Fallon’s vocals the instant recognition is you know Clutch are in the house, and you smile contently knowing no matter how you try to resist the urge, they are about to make you move! Their style, sound is instantly identified and immediately hearing them you know it’s Clutch and that is what makes them so iconic and revered.
Accolades and hype aside (get on with the review Metal V!) Sunrise On Slaughter Beach fucking rules. The only thing going against it is that it is only disappointingly thirty four short minutes long. Meaning the albums repeated listens and adoration is constant without ever failing to blow my tiny insignificant mind. Honestly though, my love for them is thanks to Fallon’s ability to draw the listener in, telling an incredible singular iconic story in such a minute space of time. So much detail with so few words is something few lyricists can ever hope to achieve and there is no real vagueness when it comes to their songs, Clutch’s aural geniusness is without equal and that is so true on Sunrise On Slaughter Beach.
The world was gifted and teased the first single and album opener Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone) five months ago and it 110% sets the overall tone and identity of the album’s entirety. Then in early August we saw and heard the title track Slaughter Beach. If you’re already a fan you were (I hope) blown away, or if you are new to Clutch’s awesomeness then I would assume you immediately opened your wallet and pre-ordered the album.
I’m not gonna delve into each track and wank on about blah, blah, blah because my far too favourable intro into this Clutch’s thirteenth release – Sunrise On Slaughter Beach speaks for itself and how many worthy stars it deserves. Sunrise On Slaughter Beach is a typical and perfect Clutch record, written and performed at their middle aged finest with no peer and no compare period!
I will end this review and state one simple fact – Whilst the album is overall quite amazing, my favorite track is Three Golden Horns. On which we hear a thirty dollar riff so inspired and magnificent it is as though the perfectly worshipped hands and soul of metal icon and god Tony Iommi inhabited Tim Sult’s and the rest of the band’s spirit vessels and guided them to produce one of the best Black Sabbath composed riffs you’ll hear in 2022!
⭐⭐⭐⭐½ (half a star off perfect due to the album being far too short!) 😆
CLUTCH’s – “Slaughter On Sunrise Beach” is out now through their independent label Weathermaker Music
