Release
date: Early 2019.
Label: Self
Released.
Format: CD/DD
The West Is Won – Tracklisting
The
Oil Baron
Drill
Snake
Oil
California
City
Fuck
The Sun
Don’t
Touch Me
Hot
Cake
VITCH
King
Vulture
Suicide
Machine
Members
Lou
Aquiler - Guitar
Andrew
Huber - Bass/Lead Vocals
Jake
Hart - Drums/Vocals
Review
The
Oil Barons debut album – The West Is Won is inspired by Paul Thomas
Anderson classic movie There Will Be Blood. So you have a concept
album based within the world of OIL PRODUCTION and all the joys and
pitfalls that industry brings you. Unless it’s influenced by DALLAS
and the guys are trying to be all intellectual. I’m kidding.
Anyway
this is one album that sounds like it suffers from an identity crisis
when you first listen to the album. As the band play a heavy mixture
of Blues Rock, Classic Rock, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal and even Desert
Rock. If you’re a fan of bands such as Black Sabbath and CLUTCH
then these guys should definitely be on your radar.
The
West Is Won a brilliantly entertaining album packed full of thrills
and (oil) spills with the band writing some progressive sounding
riffs and OTT lyrics to match. The opening songs The Oil Baron, Drill
and Snake Oil show that The Oil Barons have a deep and rich creative
sound and when matched against the superb lyrics then a Stoner
Metal/Doom Metal album based on There Will Be Blood isn’t so crazy
after all.
The
album has a deceptively old-school feel to it and that allows The Oil
Barons to experiment with their sound on the later stages of the
album. The vocals from Andrew are influenced by the Americana scene
at times but still remaining in the Doom/Stoner Metal world. Jake
provides solid back-up vocals along with his highly accurate and
precise drumming.
The
Oil Barons continue playing their heavy Blues Rock inspired
Stoner/Desert/Doom hybrid sound for the remainder of the album and
they will keep you entertained with other cool songs such as
California City, Fuck The Sun, VITCH and the final epic song Suicide
Machine which ventures into some pretty dark places which I didn’t
expect.
The
production is handled superbly well and the album sounds fresh and
lively from the start. The music is very direct and you become part
of the whole environment. Though it may take you a few listens to
fully understand and actually enjoy the overall album. After that
happens you’ll be amazed at how much of a good time you will have
this with album.
Excellent
and Highly Recommended.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks to The Oil Barons for the promo. The West Is Won will be available to buy on CD/DD in 2019.
Check out the awesome new video for VITCH from the forthcoming new album The West Is Won
Links:
