After a great debut ‘Black River’ just last year, Derby’s Doomsday Outlaw is back with yet another long-player and we’re more than pleased to say that ‘Suffer More’ really does bring home the promise the debut showed. If you love your Metal all with all the ‘S’s – Sabbathy, Southern and Stoner then this is for you and while fifteen songs might seem overlong or a stretch for some, here it allows the band to explore further the groundwork laid by ‘Black River’.
‘Walk on Water’ sets the ball rolling full of menace and distortion before the rolling groove of ‘Fallback’ (the first single) plants a second foot firmly in the teeth and just when you’re waiting for the head to come clean off the gentle running water and acoustic of instrumental ‘Driftwood’ and mellow but building ‘All That I Have’ not only change gears but change vehicles too. It’s a jarring change before ‘All That I Have’ changes up gears, but not necessarily a bad one. At almost seven minutes ‘All That I Have’ with its Southern blood in the veins shows that gloriously imposing other Classic Southern Rock side to the band.
That of course is really the tale and the appeal of Doomsday Outlaw, the ‘Dark and the Light’, the heavy sludgy Metal against the grittier groove-laden rock, and it works for me. If you like that lighter touch then title track ‘Suffer More’ is almost the distillation of the two worlds, a Soundgarden-like epic that has plenty of wail and bite.
‘Pandemonium’ of course is heavy as hell, under a minute and more about Motörhead fury than Sabbath sonics; ‘I’ve Been Found’ on the other hand brings back the doom, albeit with an almost Proggy swing to it; while ‘Bring You Pain’ takes us back South. Like on the first album it’s with these type of tracks we see the elevation: It’s a great song.
The picked intro to ‘Blues for a Phantom Limb’ gives that subtle southern flavour to the fiery hard rocker before ‘Saltwater’ offers a little Hendrixy guitar to a hard blues with plenty of swagger and groove. On an album with plenty of texture ‘Standing Tall’ takes it all down again nicely, it’s a great song that builds beautifully to become one of the real highpoints of a great album.
For the very few that still need convincing ‘Wait Until Tomorrow’ rides a huge heavy groove that evokes the moodier moments of bands like STP, while ‘Jericho Cane’ worships the guitar and adds some real menace. Whilst the most noticeable thing about Derbyshire’s finest might be the smouldering voice of Phil Poole and Steve Broughton’s wailing guitars shared on lead and rhythm duties with Gavin Mills, this is by no means a band that relies on that alone with Indy’s bass and (the suitably named) John ‘Ironfoot’ Willis drums just as much a vital part of the sound.
Closing an album that never seems overlong and hasn’t a hint of filler about it ‘Running Into You’ offers the most heartfelt moment, proving that when these guys take the pace down they do it just as well as they do the bluster . It’s a great song as is the last word: ‘Tales of a Broken Man’ that closes the album just as strongly as it began with another 5 minute plus epic that may even see Poole’s best vocal as he leads us through a song that encapsulates everything that is essential about this band.
Sometimes you get to hear the very best before everyone else catches up. ‘Doomsday Outlaw’ could well be the best independent rock band in the UK at the moment.
