Building upon the framework laid by last year’s debut, Total Universe Man, those wild and crazy outer space rockers Valient Thorr have returned with Legend Of The World, a twelve track offering once again focused on the charismatic personality of frontman Valient Himself and his band of intergalactic bearded sonic warriors. Sonically, the appeal of Valient Thorr primarily rests in an honest fusion of ’70s acid rock and punk rock. If you can imagine the grittiness of stoner rock merged with outrageous showmanship, you have the idea.Songs such as “Resurrection,” “Exit Strategy” and “Goveruptcy” reveal that these Venusian expatriates have had plenty of time since their spaceship crashed in North Carolina to study the musical techniques of bands like Clutch and Kyuss. Still, Valient Thorr have enough of an original bent about them to make a case for the band’s originality.

Quite often, Valient Thorr seeks to influence the political mindset of Americans with their fuzzed-out, frantic jamming. On “Lime Green Net,” the lyrical content offers a challenge to a country plagued with decisions between security and freedom, while the grooving, backbeat-heavy “Stormstris” offers blues for the pre-apocalyptic age, with the rabid vocal tantrums of Himself taking a backseat only to scorching lead work.

More than anything, Valient Thorr succeeds when dead set upon rocking like nobody’s business. Look toward the chorus of “Fall Of Pangea” or the restless energy of “Con Science,” where the band sounds ready to blast fuzzy licks and incessant rants to the far corners of the Earth. All in all, Legend Of The World offers a much more cohesive listen than Total Universe Man, and affirms that the presence of these extra-terrestrial rockers is likely to have a colossally crushing impact on a completely unsuspecting world.

[Visit the band's website]

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