Dozer - "Through the Eyes of Heathens"
(Small Stone Records 2005, SS-061)
Dozer - "Through the Eyes of Heathens"
(Small Stone Records 2005, SS-061)
From Aural Innovations #33 (March 2006)
Dozer is back! Not that they ever went away. But after tour after tour the band is still producing a new CD every 2 years or so. Anyway, this is by far the heaviest thing Dozer has ever done and is sort of crossing over into a more heavy metal sound. The influence of touring and becoming friends with Mastadon is very obvious on many tracks. The vocalist from Mastadon contributes as well to the CD. I think this will bring them a lot of new fans, though as the same drive that the band has always had is still there but now they have more of a focus to their sound and are heavier. "From Fire Fell" really pummels you with some heavy riffing and screaming shouting vocals but also sometimes Fredrick sings more melodically as well. "Until Man Exists No More" starts very slow and dark (with piano) before the very heavy riffing kicks in. This track could have been on a Mastadon record! "Days of Future Past" (remember Nektar?) brings things down a bit and Fredrick sings a lot like Josh Homme on this track. Seems Josh influences just about every vocalist in this genre these days. The track is heavy but also one of the most melodic in some ways. "Omega Glory" is another high energy bulldozer of a song. "Blood Undone" is a great track, in classic Dozer style. "The Roof, The River, The Revolver" is another very heavy Mastodon influenced track, but quite cool. A bit psychedelic vocals. Nice change. The CD ends with the amazing "Big Sky Theory", easily my favorite track on the CD and probably the best track the band has ever recorded. You have to give it to Dozer.. They work hard and play damn tight music. The drumming is outstanding on this CD and the grooves heavy and the band have evolved their sound a bit. Congrats!
Even Dozer seems to have dropped almost all the lead guitar from their album. What the hell is going on in this world, where the heavy metal bands are no longer soloing and most of the stoner rock bands don't know what a guitar solo is anymore??? Riffing all the time is fucking boring, man. Beware, the band has a new web site but hardly any of the links are working, including the tour dates.
For more information you can visit the Dozer web site at: http://www.dozermusic.com.
Visit the Small Stone Records web site at: http://www.smallstone.com.
Reviewed by Scott Heller