TRANSPORT LEAGUE – Boogie From Hell
- Posted on 05-10-2014
Veteran Swedish band Transport League return to the scene for their fifth full length in the aptly titled "Boogie from Hell". Considering their resurrection in 2009, this is their first studio album in over a decade, so I would expect nothing but the best from this quartet of musicians. Describing their sound as a mix of sludge and doom metal, yet grooving in more of a Cathedral/ Clutch manner, the 11 tracks on this effort certainly provide ample kinetic force and energy exchange.
Guitarist Tony Julien Jelencovich doubles on vocals, and his range is in line with Tommy Victor, Pepper Keenan, and of course Neil Fallon – check out the razor sharp "Fight Back" or fun send up "Swing Satan Swing" and take in his raw, forceful delivery. Bassist Lars Häglund and drummer Mattias Starander are not the flashiest rhythm section in the metal business, but they support those weighty guitars and groove like their lives depend on it. Especially when the group decide to up the beats per minute and go for the gold on a bar burning whirlwind number like "Blood Inn" that wouldn’t have been out of place on a 1990’s Corrosion of Conformity record. Lead guitarist Peter Hunyadi has the wah wah oriented break antics down pat – engaging in a lot of that back and forth action for another highlight "Bitter Sand".
If you can’t get the hooks across in quick fashion, this style doesn’t work – and fortunate for us, Transport League possess a large supply of killer riffs and grooves. Favorites change daily, but for now the Sabbath meets "The Zoo" oriented "Demon Appartus" and Mustasch meets Danzig-like "Electric Wolf" are two that continually careen around the old cranium. Add to it an intriguing cover and potent, in your face production values and you will see that Transport League are back for another long haul – not just to cash in and go away.
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