ALBUM REVIEW: Doomsday Outlaw get the groove on in Black River

INDEPENDENT act, Derbyshire-based Doomsday Outlaw, caught us by surprise when we slipped it on to listen. We read so much PR blurb that we are now born skeptics - but this time the blurb is justified.


Their album 'Black River' is a slab of groove based southern-influenced heaviness. From the stomp 'Bed of Lies' to the brooding 'New Salvation' they manage to tick all the boxes as Carl Batten growls his way through the tracks.


Opener and title track 'Black River' rolls like a tank over the listener, as Steve Broughton and Gavin Mills weave guitar strands around the song's structure.


'Down' has a riff-laden swagger and battle sensibility, while 'Mountain Men' snarls like a backwoods bastard of heavy blues. (Are there any mountains in Derbyshire?)


Throughout the release there are hints of BLS, a smidgeon of Down and CoC and similar, but there is no sense that this is derivative. Instead Doomsday Outlaw have their own sense of purpose.


Indy's bass keeps the whole thing rolling along, while John 'Ironfoot' Willis stars with his unfussy battering of the kit - proof that you don't need to be copying Neal Peart to lay down impressive drumming, you just have to deliver what is needed for the song. Very impressive.


'Thin Line', 'Never Train' and the title track really caught our attention, and this album deserves to catch even more people's attention.

Review by Jonny