I’ve always been a bigger fan of the idea of Red Fang than the execution, the idea being a rip snorting, partying, stoner metal band full of seismic riffs and grooves deeper than the sea bed. The execution previously I’ve found somewhat dependant on sound-a-like elements taken instead from a bunch of actual rip snorting stoner bands. Whales and Leeches suffers from this fate a little, but seems to integrate some of their influence a little more.
‘Blood Like Cream’, with its infectious chorus and guitar melodies, is a stoner anthem in the making, though you’ll be thinking of Queens of The Stone Age for half of it. ‘No Hope’ rocks nicely but again reminds me of too many “filler” bands I’ve heard on countless downloaded Stoner Rock compilations, and first single ‘Crows in Swine’ comes racing out of the gates full throttle before hitting a Mastodon-esque mid section minus the prog leanings of Mastodon. Later tracks like ‘Dawn Rising’ and ‘Failure’ are a really nice departure, the former including a somewhat haunting vocal and a smouldering, slow burning intensity not found anywhere else on Whales and Leeches and I’d love to see the band explore further.
The title of the album is somewhat fitting, Red Fang are likely to spend most of their existence between being too small to be the whales in their scene but too good at what they do to be bottom feeding leeches. The album is thoroughly listenable, enjoyable even in the most part, though it’s unlikely to grab you by the balls. I get the feeling they could be absolutely storming live (or if I had half a carton of beer and a bowl of reefer in me), but here on record Red Fang sound merely good, and a lot like a lot of other bands to boot.
6/10
Reviewer: Roger Killjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6wMsI5a3F4