Thank You For The Demon

The latest belter from Sweden’s Mustasch features just about everything you could expect and crave from the Scandinavian hard-hitters. Featuring a surplus of fine-tuned riffs and catchy choruses, Thank You For The Demon is par for the course in the hard rock-meets-heavy metal landscape. While a core element of Mustasch’s sound journeys back to older, more traditional heavy metal, Thank You For The Demon is as effervescent and full of life as ever. Albeit relatively simple and lacking in overall variance, the songs possess a deep rawness that sets it apart from modern metal which tries to recreate the magic from days of old. Rhythmic heaviness takes up a significantly large portion of this album, leaving some room for aspects of prog and darker old-school acoustic breaks. While the lyrics, though clichéd in retrospect are ultimately examples of vitriolic presence from frontman Ralf Gyllenhammar, whose execution of memorable refrains such as “I’m a king without a kingdom to rule/The day I was born was the day I was due” is as radiant as always. Immersed behind the bellowing vocals are strong pervasive guitar chugs, as reminiscent of Danko Jones, Hardcore Superstar and Bullet to name just a few. While hard rock artists may be fewer in number these days (or so it seems), it does lead listeners to question whether hard rock has become infinitely less explored and now holds the appearance of something innovative and fresh. Hard rock is not something prominently explored in my musical endeavours but after stumbling upon Thank You For The Demon, it may have opened a door otherwise closed and locked years ago. Some segments of the rhythmic and vivacious are interwoven between softer, melodic breaks which will please fans of the softer side of conventional prog metal. Despite having my doubts, Mustasch do a very good job of keeping their strong sound above water with their latest offering. Though it may not exactly be innovative, their blend of heavier rock and metal is still a refreshing listen from time to time. However it remains to be seen whether they will attempt something completely incompatible to a hard rock record. Perhaps some technical death licks circa-Decapitated or a Hypocrisy-styled outro. Who knows? Bang your head, because they hate to dance.