They've earned quite a lot of comparisons to
Black Sabbath thus far, but perhaps a more fitting comparison to the heavy riffing trio
Stinking Lizaveta is latter-day
Black Flag (especially the
Henry Rollins-less release,
The Process of Weeding Out). On their fifth release overall, 2007's
Scream of the Iron Iconoclast, the group has once again hooked up with producer
Steve Albini, and the result is undeniably mighty hard rock that is bound to attract both stoner and doom metal fans. On such selections as the title track and "Yagan's Head," Yanni Papadopoulos will definitely earn comparisons to the great
Greg Ginn with his overabundance of never-ending chromatic guitar work. But as a band,
Stinking Lizaveta is built to work best as a unit, as evidenced by the slow crawlers "Willie Nelson (Tired of the War)" and "Requiem for a Rock Band," while elsewhere,
Metallica-esque riffing turns up on "Indomitable Will." For doom rock totally devoid of predictable "the world is ending" lyrics (or of any lyrics, for that matter) -- and with an extra emphasis on musical mood shifting --
Scream of the Iron Iconoclast is recommended. ~ Greg Prato