RSS Feed


RUBY THE HATCHET
Fear Is A Cruel Master

Magnetic Eye (2022)
Rating: 8/10

After a five year silence, grindhouse-a-go-go rock ‘n’ rollers Ruby The Hatchet are back in the saddle and ridin’ outta Hell with another rollicking record. It’s formulaic to an extent, it’s archetypal, but it’s good time rock music driven by lead single ‘Thruster’ which grooves along in typically ghoulish fashion. At times the song channels surf spookiness in some of the lead work but first and foremost it sizzles like a less macabre Lucifer.

These New Jersey rockers have warmed my cold bones for a few years now. Their brand of catchy rock follows familiar themes as occult influences waft in like autumnal bonfire smoke and made all the more wistful by vocalist Jillian Taylor who has that steamy, haunting type of tone we’ve become accustomed to with a glut of other acts who like to lace their poison with a bit of organ.

Opener ‘The Change’ is a driving rocker with nifty guitar work, but it also boasts a more pensive segment too. Proof then that the band may be targeting a wider audience, but the support of the Hammond organ keeps the album psych-tinged as the rolling thunder of ‘Deceiver’ comes into play with fat riffage and stony, stoned percussion.

Labelling Ruby The Hatchet as “stoner” is a tad unkind and restricting. After all, these guys have more of a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility and are happy to lean towards lighter shades of doom and psychedelia. ‘Primitive Man’ – featuring some killer guitar work – is awash with heavenly Hammond and luridly writhes on its bed of darkness, but it’s still pretty much generic female-fronted fuzz rock we’ve all been bombarded with over the last two decades. Thankfully, these guys write cool, misty melodies to keep the listener in tune.

Other highs are the trudging ‘Soothsayer’, the subtle and bluesy ‘1,000 Years’, and the serene ‘Last Saga’ where Taylor steps away from the mic and allows drummer Owen Stewart to bring us a soulful croon before both combine to provide a Blue Öyster Cult-type of dreamy aesthetic. ‘Amor Gravis’ rounds things off with a jovial heap of rolling blubber delivered in classic 60s psych fashion; it’s fat, dirty and hard, just how I like my rock ‘n’ roll.

Ruby The Hatchet remains steadfast in its quest for rock ‘n’ roll hierarchy, but whether they have enough to separate themselves from the crowd still remains to be seen. However, Fear Is A Cruel Master is still a hip n’ happenin’ platter dripping with Jon Lord-esque organ and enough nostalgic resonance to keep you high in Hell.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share