‘Stoner Thrash’ by Stone Disciple is one of those releases that, to use an old phrase, does exactly what it says on the tin. The guitar tones used throughout are pure stoner; the speed of the material, less so. Attacking like a harder edged Fu Manchu colliding with a riffy, speed loving Sabbath clone, this EP’s songs cover all the important stoner bases, and yet convey an energy that feels pleasingly fresh at the time of release.
‘Laid To Waste’ kicks off with a genuine gusto. The track doesn’t even have the grace of an intro; instead, the jagged, distorted guitars crash in with a clean vocal, immediately thrusting the listener into Stone Disciple’s riff-laden universe. Alternating between the solid crunch of the verse and bridge sections that attack like Trouble playing at speed, it’s clear that the number is the fusion of two half-formed ideas but, given a couple of bars to adjust, it sounds great. The instrumental moments where AJ’s drums thunder beneath Jared’s sharp guitar – leading the band into a furious old school metal gallop – are especially smart, advertising these musicians as solid players in a fairly trad metal way. However, any force here shouldn’t detract from the more melodic elements; it’s more than clear that this band genuinely value an accessible edge, and the presence of a melodic vocal (also supplied by Jared) brings a pleasing musical balance throughout. Aside from adding a little speed to a stoner sound, you couldn’t necessarily call Stone Disciple original, but it’s clear from the get go that their heavy yet melodic sound has a great potential.
‘Bring Us Your Dead’ shares a fuzzed up, almost bluesy tone when building tension by way of an extended intro, showing the craft of a band who instinctively know the value of reeling in an audience. When the main riff eventually explodes, Stone Disciple go “full Sabbath” with a brilliant mid tempo chug. It’s just a ruse, however: the bulk of the track ventures into a great thrash riff coupled with angrily spat vocals, delivering something that sounds like a collision between the early Anthrax and classic Municipal Waste. The Anthrax influence is amplified in the way the drums punch against the guitar riff rather than the bass during a shouty chorus, and the band show off a great love for mid 80s sound. Had the drum sound been bigger, the end result would’ve been superior, but allowing for an obvious budget here, there’s plenty that still showcases some fine musicianship.
By adding a jagged, melodic thrash tempo to a well worn sound, Stone Disciple breathe a huge amount of life into material that could’ve easily sounded tired. With one track sharing great stoner interjected with thrash moments and the other working great thrash with occasional nods to a stoner aesthetic, there’s a feeling that this pair of numbers manages to cover most of the band’s key interests, despite the release being really short. In that respect, it works brilliantly, and some ways, doesn’t really need to offer more. The speed driven elements also show a musical progression from the band’s earlier – and far more traditional – stoner/doom days as captured on a pair of EPs from 2017 and 2018. For lovers of classic metal with a stoner lilt, this brief listen will provide a more than welcome musical hit from a DIY band with a lot of spirit.
November 2024