“Whoa! Now this is an album opener! Subtlety be damned!” That’s what I thought when ‘Marigold’, the first track on THROTTLEROD’s “Hell And High Water” blasted through my living room. Throttlerod are a band whose sound is probably best described as ‘CORROSION OF CONFORMITY playing songs by LYNYRD SKYNYRD and/or (early) ZZ TOP’. Just like some of the best work by those bands the song material on offer here is very basic and in-your-face and no one will ever accuse singer/guitarist/main songwriter Matt Whitehead of being the next Burt Bacharach. Which is OK since not only are the riffs catchy as hell, the band plays ‘em with a groove so thick it makes tracks like ‘No Damn Fool’ and ‘Whistlin’ Dixie’ almost (but not quite) funky. And makes you want to throw the horns and scream along to some of the faster tracks such as ‘Tomorrow and a Loaded Gun’ and ‘Snake Into Angel’. The album’s only gentle moment (a short but sweet ballad called ‘Been Wrong’) is followed by the furious headbanger ‘In The Flood’.

Hey, not all music has to be difficult, proggy or eclectic. Sometimes you just want to get down and rock, and boy does this album ROCK!! As you may have guessed by now I absolutely love “Hell And High Water” and I hereby strongly recommend it to all aspiring air-guitarists, owners of seedy biker bars and lovers of all things Rawk!!

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: www.throttlerod.com

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