Run Your Mouth When I'm Not Around
Kriadiaz are the new outfit from long serving, or should that be long suffering, former Mushroomhead guitar man Dave Felton and this debut album is nothing if not furrowed brow focused and dripping with workmanlike dedication.
The touchstones are obvious; Kriadiaz couldn't be more open about their desire to recreate the veiny necked demolition of prime nineties Pantera. Opener Bloodline elbows aside its acoustic blues intro unceremoniously to launch into Felton's very own Fucking Hostile and that tight, clenched fist thrash meets hardcore 'roid rage runs through the entire album but it isn't just Phil Anselmo's most famous band that Kriadiaz dig as second track Longtime Gone weighs in with some of that NOLA sludge that Anselmo does with Down with a bit of added Creeping Death for good measure and also on doom influenced Stoner Funeral, obviously.
Given that there's not much chance of a new Pantera record given Dimebag's tragic absence and the continuing acrimony between Anselmo and Dimebag's brother Vinnie Paul you could be forgiven for thinking that we should all be happy with Kriadiaz ersatz Far Beyond Driven but Pantera were Pantera and Kriadiaz are Kriadiaz. Same but different as the gap year kid's t-shirt says. So elsewhere the band take cues from that other band indebted to the Cowboys from Hell's legacy: Lamb of God. The staccato riffs and growled vocals come to the fore on 10 Lives and Never Down.
The production is clear and tightly packed – not many nuances but makes for a aggressive, punchy listen which from the songs described above will come as no surprise and that's the charm and drawback of Kriadiaz: no surprises. Fourteen tracks is too many as there is a bit of padding in the track listing but tunes like The Rebuilding and Soul Chaser hit the mark.
I can see this group killing it live to bull-necked and very enthusiastic fans and let them have their fun. It's uncomplicated and direct - as the band put it on The Rebuilding: "everyone knows what we bring" - but also free of bullshit and that is all too often a rare thing.