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A Dog Called Limbo - Self-titled

Reviewed by Helen on 1st February 2007

"A riff, a riff, my kingdom for a riff. These loonies take the catchiest Kyuss-alike guitar lines and both funk them up and speed them up: this is eccentric british speed stoner.

Fuzzy riff-lead hard rock with a pounding and driving beat, and a hypnotic - almost far eastern - musical quality, especially in the harmonies.

The pummelling retro riffs zip along like an old western on FFWD, and the not too shabby songs only serve to compliment this great little outfit. Maybe not stylistically ground-breaking, this Nottingham quartet still has more than enough quality to set them apart from the crowd. Really Rather exciting."

I thought I'd start this review by quoting one far more experienced in these matters than me - James Gill from Metal Hammer, who gave this demo 9/10 and voted it band of the month back last year. Considering the growth of this stunning band, it's time we gave them some bandwidth.

From the start, I have to be completely honest with you. I know this band. In fact, Tony (the bassist) co-presented Nottingham Trent Rock Society's official radio show RPM (Rock, Punk, Metal) with me last year. The guy's going to be a Daddy soon. We keep in touch. It's all disgustingly coated in the most blatant nepotism.

But I'm afraid you're just going to have to trust me. I personally think that their MySpace profile (myspace.com/adogcalledlimbo) speaks for itself. It's not a smooth, perfect demo, but it's bloody good. My favourite song? Wolf. It's just plain good, and quality speaks for itself. Check it out.

I think the best thing about this album is how it draws on the very best of existing genres. You've got a bit of indie there, a bit of old-school rock, a bit of new, and I dare say a very little punk thrown in for good measure - plus all sorts of added extras. What all this means is that ADCL has a solid base on which to build new structures and new styles of their own. They've done their homework, and they got A*s. Now they're moving on.

The specifics: riffs. Yeah, Gill's 100% right there. The riffs stay in your head all day, sitting in the back of your mind taking Es and throwing mad parties. They're strongly reminiscent of Rage Against The Machine riffs at their finest - the same deep resonance, the same simple decadence, but faster and quirkier. The drumming slots in nicely, with excellent rhythm and the sort of aplomb that makes me suspect the drummer's spinning his sticks at the end of the complicated bits. There's just a little technical genious there.

The one part I didn't quite like about this EP was the end of track three - a little bit of heavy metal vocal styling crept into Murray's performance, and I don't think they need that. It's overegging the gateaux a little bit, and the song doesn't require it. The rest of the vocals are great - just energetic enough to complement the perky, tight style of ADCL: but laid back enough to add an extra dimension to the mix, another flavour to this enticing recipe.

So, overall, a very exciting demo. I particularly like the bass lines. Haha.

Rating: 9/10
Website: www.adogcalledlimbo.co.uk

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