Truckfighters - V
Swedish stoner trio mix up their trademark sound with a mellow atmospheric edge
Signs that Truckfighter's new album would take a slightly different direction than is expected from the Swedish rockers emerged early-on. Unlike the group’s previous stoner anthems like ‘Desert Cruiser’, the album’s lead single and opener 'Calm Before The Storm' proved to be a more relaxed affair that drops the group's usual concise songwriting for an eight-minute, slow-burning track that doesn’t see heavier guitars appear until the four minute mark.
Some suggested the track’s title may have been meant literally, suggesting that it was a lighter moment before an impending album full of riff upon riff of heavy rock. Tracks such as 'Fiend' and 'The 1', the album's most consistnely heavy numbers, may back this statement up, but V also makes frequent use of long, mellow sections that are intermingled amongst the band’s signature moments of riff-fuelled power.
V is an album just as invested in creating an encapsulating atmosphere as it is providing hard-hitting rock, as it revels in immense soundscapes built through intricate songwriting. Gut-punching drop-kick riffs hit hard, but Truckfighters use restraint, often descending into sections of ethereal vocals and subtle, emotional guitars that border on post-metal. Much of the album follows suit, but it retains an element of stoner rock mannerisms by having the groove-filled rhythms often stick around for the less harsh moments.
Grander in scope but still effective in execution, V is the sound of a band not wanting to stagnate. You may go into the album and find yourself waiting for the stoner riffs you came in expecting, but the occasionally lengthy sections of atmospheric instrumentals and delicate vocals weave their way in between the moments of untethered power fairly seamlessly, and largely emerge effective.
7.5/10
