Floodstain - Dreams Make Monsters

Rating: 7.5

Country: Netherlands

Release Date: 2007

Track list:
1. Monster
2. Love is Poison
3. Trailblazer
4. You Lose Alone
5. Deathwish
6. Stray Dogs
7. End of Trail

Floodstain - Dreams Make Monsters

Roel - bass
Jeff - guitar
Daim - drums
Boy - vocals/guitar

With their influences including Queens of the Stone Age, Corrosion of Conformity, Alabama Thunderpussy, Fu Manchu and Kyuss, I would have never guessed Floodstain were Dutch. The lattermost band's influence shines particularly bright here; while they feature some members of fellow Dutch stoners (with the much more awesome name) Heavy Lord, Floodstain aren't as, well, heavy, opting for more sonically laid back, Kyuss-worshipping desert rock with sandpaper vox and a groovy low end. It's a formula that's hard to fuck up, and they proudly continue the tradition of not fucking it up.

It is worth noting, however, that I believe the hand has yet to discover a seamless balance between their workhorse riffing and emotive sentimentalism. The song "Stray Dogs" is pure class with a waltzy staccato rhythm section, gloriously wah-soaked leads, and even some kitschy falsetto "woo-woo"s, while "Deathwish" is also 100% awesome because it's hooky and emotionally charged without ever sacrificing momentum for those virtues, but the same could not be said of some of the album's longer songs, and they tend to suffer as a result. This is not a malady I foresee Floodstain remedying with significant ease, either, because that bittersweetness is fundamental to their sound; what makes them interesting as a band is that they play bluesy stoner rock anthems with the cathartic release of heartbroken ballads.

On a technical level, though, everything's sufficient. The production is adequately warm and swampy, with a firm, crunchy guitar tone. No troubles there. The band also possesses an extremely capable vocalist with only one notable flaw: he rather lacks melodic command and his crooning sometimes seems a bit flat. Floodstain don't seem like the kind of band who'd give a shit about something like that, and good on them, but he's best when he exudes a throat-ripping Lemmy intensity and should stick to that more often.

So basically, thick swampy riffing good, meandering melancholic bridges bad. The latter case is luckily the minority in Dreams Make Monsters, so it's still a pretty solid fucking album. Floodstain is a classic example of the hard rock band with their heart in the right place; they're clearly doing what they like to do, and to hell with anyone else.

August 5th, 2008