Mustasch – Mustasch

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It’s taken Sweden’s Mustasch four years to follow up Latest Version of The Truth, an album which brought them a new wave of popularity and acclaim, leading to shows further afield than home, a live DVD, and several festival appearances. Things kick of on an unexpectedly doomy note with intrumental intro Tritonus (Prelude), which heads straight into Heresy Blasphemy where Ralf Gyllenhammar sounds like Glenn Danzig singing for Metallica; muscular, heavy riffs abound. The album as a whole splits itself between a new, ultra-heavy, sinister metal sound (Desolate, Blackout Blues and Mine’s Ektomorf-riffs-meet-Emigrate-chorus anthemic punch), and rockers which sound closer to Latest Version of The Truth, like Deep In The Woods. There’s one weak ballad, I’m Frustrated, which tries to add some grandeur with strings late on, but in truth Gyllenhammar’s voice simply doesn’t fit. A less-than-engaging ballad is easy to overlook on a metal album, but it’s closing track which proves to be the biggest disappointment. Tritonus carries the same title as the teasing opener, and the same monstrous riff, but is ultimately a let-down. There was so much scope to turn that big, doomy riff, backed by strings for extra textures, into a real epic, but instead the only lyrics are spoken-word, in the style of a mock-prophecy reading or similar and musically there’s nothing but that riff. It will make a great live intro tape, but it’s a massively missed opportunity on CD. Althought perhaps not quite as coherent as Latest Version of The Truth, Mustasch is a tougher, more varied album, and easily rivals its predecessor at the top of their catalogue.

Written by Andy Lye
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