If you're a fan of those Southern States stoner rock bands such as Down, Crowbar and Corrosion Of Conformity, then the new album from Louisiana's Vermilion Whiskey will be right up your alley. 'Crimson And Stone' has all the requisite qualities that you need from a release that rocks hard from start to finish with pounding drums, driving bass and slicing dual guitar work all wrapped up in prime southern rock ooze. The band, Thaddeus Riordan (Lead Vocals And Guitar), Ross Brown (Lead Guitar) and Jason Decou (Bass) are joined by Crowbar's Tommy Buckley on drums for Vermilion Whiskey's third album, which builds on the foundations laid by 2013's '10 South' and 2017's 'Spirit Of Tradition'.
Kicking off with the Sabbathesque riffs of 'Down On You', 'Crimson And Stone' settles into a hard rockin', riff heavy groove with the following, slower 'The Get Down' featuring some great bass work and dual guitar lines on a mighty fine track. The faster 'Confidence' stomps and growls before a fearsome intro gives way to a snaky, lithesome riff and groove on first single 'Good Lovin' which has five minutes of anthemic, first class tuneage. The atmospheric and ethereal 'Interlude' takes the heat off for a couple of minutes but builds up into the riffage of 'Dissonance' which marches powerfully over its desolate landscape with soulful vocals and expressive guitar lines. The slightly tribal beats and stomp of 'Atrophy' follows before the album closes with 'Hollow' which rounds things off in fine style as it runs through differing tempos and textures, the killer riffs still to the fore.
'Crimson & Stone' is a great album full of gargantuan riffs and grooves and designed to please any self-respecting stoner rock fan. With a large slab of southern-fried heaviness, Vermilion Whiskey have recorded tuneage that should reverberate loudly amongst the heavy rock albums of the year and should be on many rock fans' radar for months to come. Take a slug of Vermilion Whiskey and enjoy!
'Crimson And Stone' is released on the 26th May 2023 and will be available on all the major digital sites with vinyl (in a number of different shades) and CD copies being able to be picked up from the Vermilion Whiskey bandcamp page - www.vermilionwhiskey.bandcamp.com