:: Monster Magnet - 4-Way Diablo

Monster Magnet

When New Jersey heavy rock outfit Monster Magnet finally hit the big time in 1998, they really hit the big time!Their ‘Powertrip’ album sold enough to earn the band their first gold record, and their non-stop touring in support of the album made them one of the biggest must-see acts for the next two years. Although considered a commercial failure, 2000’s ‘God Says No’ still managed to sell a respectable amount to keep Monster Magnet on the road for the next two years, before parting ways with A&M Records in 2003 with the release of their double best of ‘Greatest Hits’ set. Monster Magnet re-emerged with ‘Monolithic Baby!’ in 2004, their first release for German label Steamhammer/S.P.V. But as much as vocalist/guitarist Dave Wyndorf claimed that the best was still to come from the band prior to the album’s release, ‘Monolithic Baby!’ was generally perceived as a lacklustre effort from a band that were clearly closer to the end of their career than they cared to admit. Adding to the band’s woes was the announcement of guitarist Phil Cavaino’s amicable split from the band in early 2005, and Wyndorf’s own personal battle with his inner demons in the lead up to his overdose on prescription drugs in early 2006. But for all the dramas that have unfolded over the last few years, the band have managed to pick themselves up out of the debris, dust themselves off and put together their seventh full-length effort ‘4-Way Diablo’. Learning from the mistakes of their last couple of releases, Monster Magnet kept things simple and maintained a lot of the first take recordings of the songs featured on ‘4-Way Diablo’, which essentially gives the album a slightly raw, live sound. And while ‘4-Way Diablo’ doesn’t quite match the brilliance of ‘Powertrip’, it’s certainly their strongest release since then.

The title track ‘4-Way Diablo’ is an effortless rocker that is typically Monster Magnet sounding with plenty of retro groves provided by Mundell. While the grittier ‘Wall Of Fire’ and ‘You’re Alive’ sees the band strip away the commercial sheen of recent times a little to allow a bit of their former sound to shine. Tracks such as ‘Blow Your Mind’, ‘Solid Gold’ and ‘Slap In The Face’ are easily the most accessible and radio friendly tracks on the album. Whereas on the lengthy ‘Cyclone’, the tribalistic instrumental ‘Freeze And Pixilate’, ‘No Vacation’ and ‘2000 Light Years From Home’, Monster Magnet prove that they still have the ability to delve into their psychedelic past and blend it seamlessly with their current melodic hard rock sound. The album does have a slightly darker and more experimental side, which is more than evident on tracks like ‘I’m Calling You’, ‘A Thousand Stars’ and ‘Little Bag Of Gloom’. Although a little different sounding from what you would normally expect from the band, they do work in the sense of giving a little more variety to the album. Although ‘4-Way Diablo’ is a far cry from the brilliance of ‘Powertrip’ (or even the album’s prior to the late ‘90’s), it easily surpasses the last couple of efforts that have emerged from the Monster Magnet camp in the last couple of years. And given the dramas the band have gone through in the last few years, perhaps there’s more left in the Monster Magnet tank after all.