Labels: Bad Vugum
Review by: Chris Bress
Stalwart is rocking! These Finnish chaps know how to pound out the good shit, and when they find a good riff they keep going back for more. Maybe the time two of them spent in the fantastic Circle has forced them to repeat everything they do (ten million times)…but as everyone should know Circle are one of the best groups out there today and Stalwart aren’t far behind.
Stalwart definitely have more in common with bands such as Don Cab, the Oxes, Battles etc. than Tangerine Dream, Eloy, Faust and the Fugs. Although it is comparable to bands like Oxes, it can’t really be labelled “math-rock”, it’s still got a lot more kraut repetition than someone like Storm and Stress!
“Drunken sincerety of heskiel” pounds away like a sample from a Helmet record but with spooky mellotron over the top. My favourite track, however, is the strangely titled “layered ironies” which kicks off like a Talk Talk intro but soon develops into a totally beautiful riff which reminded me of long lost classics like Drill For Absentee or even Tristeza.
Top stuff!