Spiritual Beggars - Ad Astra

More colourful and evolved songs like "Sedated" typify the dynamic but still quite heavy sound of Spiritual Beggars' forth release, Ad Astra. The band had previously stuck to a contemporary stoner palette somewhere between the thundering Kyuss and chaotic Corrosion of Conformity, but everything from the Doors ("Per Aspera Ad Astra") to Deep Purple ("Wonderful World" and others) gets folded into the retro metal mix on this release. Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand's more aggressive vocal work clears up any confusion about the group's modernity, but relevance really isn't an issue with music this crushing (yet listenable). Just like the first three Spiritual Beggars records, Ad Astra's opener, "Left Brain Ambassadors," is a hard rock juggernaut, and its only fault is the setting of a musical standard that is practically impossible to maintain through the following 13 tracks. The band almost pulls it off with cunning takes on '70s elders like Kiss on the Love Gun-influenced "Save Your Soul" and during more traditional Kyuss references like "On Dark Rivers." If it weren't for the out of place ballad "It's Over," Ad Astra would bake like a sun dancer in the heat of stoner rock perfection.

Ripped to MP3 @ 320kbps

Led by former Carcass / Arch Enemy six-stringer Mike Amott, Sweden's Spiritual Beggars have been making critically-acclaimed, Sabbath-inspired "stoner rock" albums, and their song writing skills are rapidly improving with each successive release, as clearly evidenced by their third—and finest—full-length CD. Much to the band's credit, Spiritual Beggars have not altered their style or attempted to deviate from the tried-and-tested formula in order to attain greater commercial success. Instead, they have focused all their efforts on tightening up their song writing and perfecting their execution, which is virtually flawless, as the band deliver 13 songs of crushingly heavy, riff-laden metal that is as catchy as it is powerful.
As before, Spiritual Beggars appear to be unconcerned with the prospect of breaking new musical ground, and there is admittedly very little on Ad Astra that has not been done before in one form or another by countless other similar sounding acts. However, where this trio clearly excel is the quality of their song writing, and you'd be hard-pressed to find another band in this genre of music delivering material as strong as "Angel of Betrayal" or opener "Left Brain Ambassadors".
Featuring excellent production courtesy of Fredrik Nordstrom, Ad Astra is a must-have for fans of old Sabbath as well as for anyone with an appreciation for thick, guitar-heavy music done with a decidedly retro feel.