Mojobone – Cowboy Mode

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After the release of the debut King Hobo album last year comes Spiritual Beggars/Opeth keyboard player Per Wiberg’s other project Mojobone with Markus Kallstrom on drums. Cowboy Mode is Mojobone’s third release, but 1999′s Tales From The Bone was only available on vinyl and 2002′s Crossroad Message was only released in Japan. Both will see a CD release together in a double-disc set in 2011. Similar to King Hobo Mojobone make blues-oriented heavy rock, but with less of a jam feel and a few other influences creeping in from stoner rock to doom metal. The monstrous riff of opener Over The Hill underpins a solid groove early Grand Magus would have been proud of, while elements of Monster Magnet appear elsewhere. The Ones That Got Away could come from one of Gilby Clarke‘s albums, and the title track’s doom groove and flourishes of blues are a real treat. Everything on Cowboy Mode is packed with riffs, groove, solos and Wiberg’s own melodic-yet-rough vocals. Apart from the exceptional Shadow King, which chills out with a laid-back Mother Love Bone lilt, drifting, soft vocals and bluesy lead guitar. Wiberg and Kallstrom cover all of the bases with this album, then do it all again on the nine-minute End of Music, End of Story complete with a dueling guitar and saxophone solo segment, before returning to a swamp blues version of the opening track for 90 seconds. For any listeners who like to zone out to hard rock music with heavy amounts of blues and compelling playing and real feeling, this is the only album of 2010 to tick all the boxes.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2010, Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Mojobone