1000Mods
Vultures
The Lab Records
2014
I don’t know what has happened with the Greeks and stoner rock, but it seems stoner rock is now one of Greece’s biggest exports. It has become something like feta cheese. One of the most important representatives of this genre is 1000Mods.The band has been around since 2006; so far they’ve released two EPs and one length album. “Vultures” is their sophomore effort.
The good news is 1000Mods seem to have found their sound. That is compared to their previous work, “Super Van Vacation” (2011), which (let’s face it) sounded a little too much like a Kyuss record. “Vultures” is harsher, grittier and has an impressively tight production sound.
“Claws” is the track that kicks off the album. Featuring a pretty sweet and powerful guitar riff, the song is absolutely perfect for grabbing the listener’s attention and setting the mood. Without a doubt it’s one of the strongest compositions the band has ever produced. Following that, we have “Big Beautiful”, an Orange Goblin vibe, but with some psychedelic/space rock aspects right before the end, which make it somewhat more interesting. After that, there’s the slow-burner jam called “She” in which the band offers some pretty solid guitar work on top of a tight and groovy rhythm section. In my personal opinion, this track would have been greater if it were at least one minute shorter. Generally however, 1000Mods seem to have learned their lesson on that part. Meaning that the total running time of “Vultures” is around 38 minutes which makes it much tighter and more digestible compared to the 64-minute “Super Van Vacation”.
But let’s get back to the songs. What can I say about track #4, “Green Horses”? It’s good, no question about that, but for some reason this down-tempo is too much of a slow-burner and it doesn’t stand out. At least to my ears that is. Moving on, “Low” is where things get back on the right track. With a sweet and yet kinda dark guitar riff, this song proves that you don’t need a lot of stuff to produce a tight stoner/hard rock composition. Next up is the title track, “Vultures”, a good & solid track, but to be perfectly honest, it does have a somewhat Nightstalker-ish vibe to it.
Second to last is “Modesty”, a fun, hard-sounding little number that is guaranteed to make every stoner rock fan softly bang their heads. That brings us to the end of the album. It’s safe to say 1000Mods saved the best for last. “Reverb of the New World” is an almost 7-minute instrumental track that manages to seamlessly fuse stoner, space and psychedelic rock together. I’m talking about early Monster Magnet. Without a doubt, the biggest surprise and my personal favorite.
All in all, a step up from everything else the band has previously released.
The good news is 1000Mods seem to have found their sound. That is compared to their previous work, “Super Van Vacation” (2011), which (let’s face it) sounded a little too much like a Kyuss record. “Vultures” is harsher, grittier and has an impressively tight production sound.
“Claws” is the track that kicks off the album. Featuring a pretty sweet and powerful guitar riff, the song is absolutely perfect for grabbing the listener’s attention and setting the mood. Without a doubt it’s one of the strongest compositions the band has ever produced. Following that, we have “Big Beautiful”, an Orange Goblin vibe, but with some psychedelic/space rock aspects right before the end, which make it somewhat more interesting. After that, there’s the slow-burner jam called “She” in which the band offers some pretty solid guitar work on top of a tight and groovy rhythm section. In my personal opinion, this track would have been greater if it were at least one minute shorter. Generally however, 1000Mods seem to have learned their lesson on that part. Meaning that the total running time of “Vultures” is around 38 minutes which makes it much tighter and more digestible compared to the 64-minute “Super Van Vacation”.
But let’s get back to the songs. What can I say about track #4, “Green Horses”? It’s good, no question about that, but for some reason this down-tempo is too much of a slow-burner and it doesn’t stand out. At least to my ears that is. Moving on, “Low” is where things get back on the right track. With a sweet and yet kinda dark guitar riff, this song proves that you don’t need a lot of stuff to produce a tight stoner/hard rock composition. Next up is the title track, “Vultures”, a good & solid track, but to be perfectly honest, it does have a somewhat Nightstalker-ish vibe to it.
Second to last is “Modesty”, a fun, hard-sounding little number that is guaranteed to make every stoner rock fan softly bang their heads. That brings us to the end of the album. It’s safe to say 1000Mods saved the best for last. “Reverb of the New World” is an almost 7-minute instrumental track that manages to seamlessly fuse stoner, space and psychedelic rock together. I’m talking about early Monster Magnet. Without a doubt, the biggest surprise and my personal favorite.
All in all, a step up from everything else the band has previously released.