Blackfire Revelation - Gold And Guns On 51 (2005)

The Reverend hasn’t heard a righteous din like the grooves you’ll find on Gold And Guns On 51 since Blue Cheer earned its first hearing aids playing biker bars back in ’68 or so. Gawd damn, them BC boys could shake, rattle and roll – with obscene stacks o’ Marshall cabinets channeling turbocharged amps set on “stun,” the band fused mutant blooze and caveman rock into a poisonous brew unlike any band before or since…until now.

The Blackfire Revelation pick up the long-forgotten gauntlet thrown down by Leigh Stephens with Vincebus Eruptum and run down an amphetamine-fueled highway towards oblivion. Whereas Blue Cheer needed four monster musicians to scare the heebie-jeebies out of its audience, the Blackfire Revelation manages to do it with just two – slash-n-burn guitarist J.R. Fields and demolition expert Hank Haney on the drum kit. Together, the duo from New Orleans kick out the jams with Gold And Guns On 51, a five-song debut EP that musically approximates a nuclear meltdown.

The line is drawn in the sand with the very first song, the machine-gun drumbeats and towering riffs of “Battle Hymn” possibly heavier, more destructive and more testosterone-drenched than any stoner/thrash/death-metal band you could possibly name. Fields’ electronically-altered vocals bounce off the song’s massive power chords like a hawk swooping down on a field mouse while Haney’s drums hit yer ears like a surprise kidney punch from a drunken preacher. The rest of Gold And Guns On 51 is of similar sound and vintage, late-60s/early-70s styled primordial heavy metal with interwoven threads of blooze-rock and boozy psychedelica.

Audiences haven’t heard tunes like this since the first Neanderthals crawled out of the wreckage of the gene pool, shook off the blood and tar and strapped on Stratocasters to form bands like Blue Cheer, Dust, Sir Lord Baltimore and the sludge-kings themselves, Vanilla Fudge. At a mere twenty-two minutes, Gold And Guns On 51 burns with more energy and intensity than modern audiences are ready to handle. Tough shit, get used to it, ‘cause this is the future, kiddies! With muscle, balls and sweat, the Blackfire Revelation has created a mini-album that is both timeless and out-of-time. (Southern Reconstruction Records)

(Click on CD cover to buy Gold And Guns On 51 from Amazon.com)