High End Of The Season

Baton Rogue Morgue

Reviewed by Kaheli

Think 80’s hair metal infused with a touch of good ol’ fashioned Southern metal compounded with some west coast biker shizz and there you have it: ‘High End Of The Season’…Baton Rogue Morgue. It overtook over me like kudzu and just wouldn’t let go. For those not familiar with the South, kudzu is a plant that takes over everything in its path, growing at rapid rates and nearly impossible to kill. Prior to writing this review, I took a road trip and decided the best way to check out the album was while I was driving. So into the stereo it went…and there it stayed for over 7 hours straight. Perfect highway driving tunes for the ‘stang to be subjected to. Believe me when I say it didn’t take long for me to deem it worthy of every bit of wattage my stereo was capable of tossing out. And that’s quite a bit Although the jury is still out on whether or not there’s any permanent damage to the subwoofers but either way, it was damage well enjoyed

Somewhere within in the first 30 seconds of the opening track, ‘Hellride’, it occurred to me quite quickly that this is a song made for listening to while straddling a fat packed hog. Anything less would seem to be a disgrace in my book and as I soon found out, it was to become a general consensus for the entire album. From the hard thumps, hooks and shreds of ‘Deliverance’, the audio-assault of the fine vocals of Lee Angel Morgue in ‘Massacre Of St. Valentine’s Day’, ‘Serpent Eyes’, ‘Dead Man’s Song’ and ‘Love Among The Ruins’ all the way down to the final track, ‘Viinoja Tuomasta’ (Importing Spirits). Seriously, what Finnish album wouldn’t be complete without at least one drinking song? Hmmm? While no two songs sound the same, you still hear what has become the band’s own brand of sound, each song is much like a Fresca soda: ‘distinctively crisp, moderately smooth, intriguingly citrus, totally refreshing’. Ok, maybe not so much the citrus but you get my point. Seriously, how many times have you heard an album lately where all the songs seemingly sound the same where you just can’t seem to distinguish where one from the other? Hell, sometimes you can’t even tell if it is one of their earlier albums or a new one.

As a product of the Gen X era, it was quite the refreshing experience to hear Baton Rogue Morgue nail down a sound that has seemingly been long forgotten while it maintains the necessities needed for today’s more fussier listeners. ‘High End Of The Season’ is, by all means, a modern metal album with strong flavors of the past…or is it the other way around? With it’s the thrust back into the past of subtle influences from bands like WASP, LA Guns, and I’ll even venture to say, Faster Pussycat to touches of the grungier side from bands like Mötorhead, ‘High End Of The Season’ offers up a little bit of something for everyone. Whether you’re an old school hair-tossing metal lover or a modern day headbanger, ‘High End Of The Season’ has everything you could ever need or want in your daily dose of ball busting metal. You won’t be disappointed, not even with that last track.

Serpent Eyes

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Our Rating:

8.8/10

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