MUSIC: ABSTRACT ARTIMUS – When The Beast Is After Me

Shane | 18 May 2018 | Reply

MUSIC: ABSTRACT ARTIMUS – When The Beast Is After Me
Dire Life Records
April 2018
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Waddaya get when you cross a southern rocker (Alabama native Artimus’s Dad used to play in Jimmie Van Zant’s band) with some heavy as fuck stoner riffs referencing everyone from Sabbath through to Monster Magnet, a love of Montrose, and a psychedelic edge that could only come from either excessive use of LSD or psilocybin, or being dropped on the head as a baby… The simple answer in this case is – Abstract Artimus.

When The Beast Is After Me is heavy A.F., and the psych groove is monster strong – think Amboy Dukes meets Ted Nugent’s late ‘70s work, but loads heavier, cooler and groovier.

Double Super Buzz opens the album – I think that’s what it’s called, the psychedelic artwork, font and colours are making my head spin – in style, before something called Badgummat, which is … well, who knows? Cool track, though, with a finger picked intro before the biggest, meatiest riff this side of Christmas kicks in.

The title track is a bit different, with fuzzed out vocals and a deeper, bluesier groove, while Ronnie Montrose Loves Ya is an short answering machine message from father to son which is quite endearing, and No Time is the heaviest blues pop song we’ve danced to in ages, its ‘long way to the top if you wanna rock n’ roll’ storyline perfectly told.

Rogue Burn could be a Soundgarden/Heaven & Hell mashup, while Ultrahex is what the 13th Floor Elevators might have sounded like if they went Sabbath.

This is one helluva album, mashing up a myriad of influences into a head shaking, groove-laden whole.