Ruby The Hatchet – Fear Is A Cruel Master

 

Ruby The Hatchet – Fear Is A Cruel Master
Magnetic Eye Records – 2022
Rock, Psych, Doom, Stoner, Prog
Rated: *****

Back in 2015 they reached the Number 17 position of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of that year with their Valley Of The Snake album thanks to all the votes that came in for that album. In 2017 the follow-up to that album reached Number 19 of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown, and Planetary Space Child was indeed amazing. And now, five years later, Ruby The Hatchet is back, and comes out swinging with what can arguably be seen as an album to dwarf all they have done before this. It’s called Fear Is A Cruel Master and is sure to garner lot of votes from all you Stoner HiVe freaks out there that vote every year. At least, that is our considered opinion. Eight tracks that are laced with heavy psychedelic and proto doom atmospheres, provided of course by those soft and sweet smokey vocals, that wild organ and those incredibly guitar licks. This time however we see Ruby venture more and more towards a higher pop sensible sentiment and catchy sonic landscape, but without ever leaving that proto and seventies feeling behind. Of which, opener The Change, might immediately be the perfect example. Opening riffs sets the scene, the organ shimmers in the background, the drums slowly gearing up for that mid-tempo perfection. Adding the warmth of the Jillian Taylors vocals, that now seem to sit perfectly with everything Fear Is A Cruel Master brings. Soulful and vibrant, with a touch of something sultry the eight compositions sound like a signboard for Taylors kind of pitch and energy. More than often the chorus, or repeated lines just seem to keep on drifting through your head, even after final track Amor Gravis has come and gone. A hot stomping, high energy, stop and pounce kind of rocker. And then that revolving ending, all class and quality! Fear Is A Cruel Master sounds like the work of art of a band that found out exactly how their pieces needed to fit together to create a masterpiece. This feels more like Ruby The Hatchet than all those albums that came before. Something that is equal parts seductive, suggestive, and pure rock ‘n roll. Ancient and meant for a distant future, Ruby The Hatchet brings you all. And did we already mention we love the cover art?!

(Written by JK)

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