March 23, 2004 - Blast Tyrant

On the same day as my last release and a long nine years since their last appearance in my library (their second, self-titled album), Clutch released their sixth album "Blast Tyrant" on March 23, 2004. They still have the same line-up and are still playing the same style of stoner rock and this is the only full album I have by Clutch in my library. Let's check it out!

The album kicks off with "Mercury" and Tim Sult leads the way with a solid guitar riff and his guitar tone for this whole album sounds pretty epic. Sult plays some pretty catchy and cool stuff for a little over a minute, then Neil Fallon enters with his usual booming voice. Fallon sings a pretty solid vers overtop, then the final minute of the song is things very slowly devolving into nothing. An interesting way to start things off for sure! Up next is "Profits Of Doom" and Dan Maines starts us off with a nice groovy bassline before Sult comes in with some super distorted and interesting lead guitar. Fallon leads a solid verse overtop that is full of lots of joke-y lyrics and things roll right into a similarly groovy chorus. There's no solo or anything that really jumps put from the main drag, but it was a decent song for sure. Track 3 is the lead single as well as the first song I heard by Clutch called "The Mob Goes Wild". Fallon dives right into a catchy verse and he's backed by a super catchy, bouncing guitar riff by Sult that drives this whole song. Words don't do proper justice; it's easily their best song in my opinion, it's so catchy and well done! Of course, the best part is when Fallon yells "Everybody move to Canada, SMOKE LOTS OF POT, everybody move to Canada RIGHT NOW", but the whole song is super catchy, including a pretty epic guitar solo. Hard to top that one, but up next is "Cypress Grove" and Jean-Paul Gaster plays an interesting, offbeat little drum beat and Sult plays some distorted guitar overtop, followed.by some more groovy bass by Maines and this all combines for a very unique and cool main riff! Fallon sounds pretty good singing matching the speed and vibe of the music and this chorus is also pretty damn catchy! Sult delivers a short but cool guitar solo, then it's back to the main drag for a predictable, but decent finish. Track 5 is "Promoter (Of Earthbound Causes)" and Sult'a guitar seems to waver back and forth in a sort of distorted pendulum for another interesting and unique main riff. These guys are full of groovy and interesting riffs even if a full album's worth in a row is a little bit of an overload. It had another interesting guitar solo and was a good song for sure, but very template-fitting. Up next is "The Regulator" and Fallon starts us off with some epic acoustic guitar by himself. He plays some cool stuff that continues into the verse as Sult adds some soft, epic electric guitar and Fallon sings a slow verse to match the mood. Things get louder in the chorus with some cool bass and guitar in this nice ramp-up, then they nicely ramp back down for another round. It probably didn't need to be five and a half minutes long, but it was not a bad song. Track 7 is "Worm Drink" and they jump right into another groovy and cool main riff by Sult and Fallon dives right into a typical verse overtop. After a couple solid rounds they move into an interesting new part with some conga-like drums, Fallon singing "awoooooo-wah" and this is certainly interesting and out of the blue! A weird little segue, but they make it work and this is another groovy tune! The next track is "Army Of Bono" and Sult plays some very interesting guitar that reminds me of Tom Morello and the rest of the band is doing their best Rage Against The Machine Impressions as well, which is definitely a good thing! The verse is more typical with Fallon singing nicely overtop, then they cool Rage part makes for a great chorus riff! This is another song that probably didn't need to be so long, but it's still cool for sure. Track 9 is "Spleen Merchant" and it's driven by a slow, stop-and-start main riff, with Gaster playing some fast drums behind it as Fallon sings a fast verse and they make this odd combo work pretty nicely. It follows the typical template of throwing in a solid little solo after the second round, only to finish with a predictable third round, but everything on this album is decently groovy and catchy. Up next is "(In The Wake Of) The Swollen Goat" and Sult leads the way with another groovy and pretty cool guitar riff. Instead of a solo on this song there's an interesting new part with Gaster playing some nice fast drums that spiced things up a bit, then a final chorus wraps things up. Track 11 is a mere 47 second song called "Weathermaker", but it's a fun little jam that sounds pretty cool! Then we're onto "Subtle Hustle" as they dive into a slightly offbeat and interesting main riff of course led by some decent guitar by Sult. Fallon sounds solid overtop and the chorus is another super catchy one that is tough not to sing along with once you get it. After another round it's solo time and Sult delivers a simple bit still pretty epic solo and this song is a cool little jam for sure! Track 13 is "Ghost" and Sult drives the song with a cool acoustic guitar riff as Fallon adds some droning organ to the mix that is atypical for these guys, but it sounds fairly epic and mixed with acoustics it's got a bit of a Pink Floyd vibe going on! Fallon's low voice sounds pretty good overtop as he starts the verse and things take a loud turn as they snap into the chorus with Sult playing some solid electric guitar. They stick to the main drag for most of this song, but it's a different one that breaks up the groovy stuff a little bit. Speaking of which, up next is a typical, template-fitting song called "(Notes From The Trial Of) La Curandera" so Sult is leading the way with solid guitar but ultimately it sounds fairly similar to the rest of the album. That is to mean it's pretty groovy and cool, but nothing really jumps out once they establish the main groove. This is shown after a couple rounds again as they shift to a new riff that is pretty cool and interesting, but the new verse is pretty repetitive. Fallon plays a bit more organ which adds an interesting extra layer as the guitars and bass get progressively heavier un this great building part, then final nearly two minutes is just one note wavering slowly as things very, very slowly fade out. A very weird way to end an otherwise good tune. The final song on the album is "WYSIWYG" which stands for "what you see is what you get". This nearly six minute closer is instrumental and they jump right into the main riff which is backed always by some solid bass by Maines. Sult plays some groovy guitar of course and Fallon plays piano on this song and his skills are not very flashy, but it does add a nice extra layer to things. Sult is the showpiece for the whole song though as he plays all kinds of catchy and cool guitar licks to keep you interested for the whole six minutes. A pretty cool way to finish things off I think!

That is the end of "Blast Tyrant" and I thought it was a good album for sure, but a very niche album that is great at what it was: some groovy stoner rock, but ultimately stoner rock is just a little repetitive and not very eye-popping. There are lots of cool songs on this album, don't get me wrong, but it's not really my thing which is why it's the last we'll hear from Clutch in My library. Certainly a worthy addition though!