I love a good background story to the bands I listen to and because of that i watch a lot of music documentaries, read books about bands, and read tons of articles about the bands I love. As interesting as those biographies are a lot of them tend to have similar themes, But every once in a while you really get something different, something that really shows an artist persevering against the odds and that is certainly the case with Thundermother.
Thundermother started out as a five piece band that was formed by Guitarist Filippa Nässil and former guitarist Giorgia Carteri, that line up of the band built a solid rock and roll sound that was heavily influenced by AC/DC, But unlike a lot of bands that I’ve heard who mimic that band Thundermother went their own direction with that influence. They released two solid albums with that line up: Rock n Roll disaster and Road Fever.
That line up didn’t last though and everyone but Filippa left the band, that alone is enough to sink a band no matter how gifted the remaining member is, But Filippa reformed Thundermother as a 4 piece band and brought into the fold an absolute powerhouse of a singer in Guernica Mancini and a hard hitting drummer in Emlee Johansson. They’ve had a couple bassists since then Majsan Lindberg and now Mona “Demona” Lindgren completing the line up, they came back on the scene strong with 2018’s self titled album, an album that showed the band had lost nothing and if anything they had gained an even stronger sound that was greatly cemented with the follow up 2020’s Heat Wave.
That album was easily the best album ever put out by either line up of the band and showed them achieving new heights and a greater sonic diversity that both kept their roots in tact and explored new territory. Heat wave left all their prior albums in the dust, it was a next level artistic achievement for them which landed it high on many album of the year lists for 2020, and placed them among the very best bands Sweden has to offer. That’s a rare story to see a band bounce back from such a staggering line up change and be better than ever.
During the pandemic and the worldwide shut downs that resulted from it the live music industry was shut down as well, practically no one was touring and there was no venue to play, So this band got creative, packed their gear in a redesigned old fire truck and played on the roof of it outdoors anywhere they parked, it was a good move that furthered their reputation as one of the hardest working bands around.
Thundermother’s latest album Black and Gold will be released on August 19th and it’s one you’ll want to be on the lookout for, It picks up from where Heatwave left off. The opening riff of “The light in the sky” sounds reminiscent of early AC/DC and Def Leppard, This song really starts things off strong with great rhythms and powerful vocals from Guernica.
The title track keeps the momentum going with an even stronger song, I feel the guitar solo could’ve been turned up a bit in the mix though. “Raise your hands” slows things down a bit but still hits like a train, this song gives me slight make some noise era dead daisies vibes, the guitar solo on this song is excellent and man is mona a fierce bass player who really adds to the power of this album. “Hot Mess” is a good mid tempo, power ballad that really lets the soulfulness in Guernica’s vocals shine while having the necessary rock swagger, it’s on songs like this that I think the band really come into their own sound that shows less of their influences and more of their own style.
“Wasted” is vintage Thundermother, hard hitting electrified rock n roll with that AC/DC backbone that they made their name on. Filippa Nässil is easily one of the best rhythm players in the modern movement, her songs hit and groove with power and style. “Watch out” is a fast paced and hard hitting rocker in the vein of “into the mud” from their last album, but with a slight punk progression in the chorus and a KILLER guitar solo.
“I don’t know you” treads AC/DC territory so well musically that if you put Brian Johnson on vocals in the verses you wouldn’t know Angus Young didn’t write it, it’s the chorus that really stands apart and yet flows well with the verses. This is just a great energetic song. “Looks no hooks” I can’t help but wonder if was slightly inspired by a Crazy Lixx song of a similar name, it doesn’t sound like that band at all though. I detect a very slight southern rock influence on this song. “Loud and free” is another vintage Thundermother song that follows in the tradition of songs they’ve done like “we fight for rock n roll ” and “rock n roll sisterhood ” in that it’s a great track that seems like a band mission statement, it’s one of the best ass kicking rockers on this album.
“Try with love” keeps the energy up with some great riffs and powerful drumming courtesy of Emlee, the powerful playing in this song shows the incredible chemistry of this line up of the band. “Stratosphere” is another of many great hard hitting songs on this album.
“Borrowed time” is an incredible song that is both powerful and winds the album down, this is a GREAT power ballad. This is yet again another song I point to as Thundermother really showing the diversity they’re capable of achieving, songs like this end albums really well. It hooks you into another listen.
2022 has been a remarkably good year for rock music, there’s been so many top level albums and Black and Gold is one of them. This band isn’t losing any momentum and just keeps getting more impressive, If you haven’t listened to Thundermother then you are missing one of the best bands around.
8.5/10