For their fifth studio album Black Stone Cherry have stripped off the “commercial cloak” and returned to what they do best – dirty, grungy, riff heavy swamp rock with their own unique Southern stamp of authority.

They returned to their roots and went back into the same studio where they recorded their debut album Black Stone Cherry almost ten years ago. Released on the Mascot label, this record was produced by the band themselves and engineered by long standing friend Dave Barrick and, hey presto, Black Stone Cherry are back where they belong.

This album runs to some thirteen tracks and there’s not a bad or a weak one among them.

Kentucky opens with The Way Of The Future. Fuzz laden from the off with a seriously strong riff. Instantly heads start to nod. This one’s dirty, hard and heavy. As the lyrics say “Take back control. Fight for your soul.” Yeah! The “real” Black Stone Cherry are back in the Practice House.

Single, In Our Dreams, is up next. With an edge of darkness to it, this energetic track is another classic tale from Black Stone Cherry. Live this is one monster of a song!

Shakin’ My Cage spins a dark Gothic magic over proceedings. If you liked The Ghost of Floyd Collins then you’ll love this one. Deep Southern swamp rock at its finest.

Soul Machine sees a different approach for the boys. Still hard and riff heavy, the addition of a horn section and some female soul backing singers is inspired. Its Southern rock meets The Blues Brothers. Brilliant!

Kentucky see Black Stone Cherry cover Edwin Starr’s Motown classic, War. When I saw this on the track list, I had my doubts. I was 100% wrong. This may be a Motown classic but it’s had a good ole Kentucky Black Stone Cherry trademark stomped on it.

Hangman is sure to prove to be a fan favourite when it hits the stage on tour. With a killer grunge riff and strong anthemic chorus, this one will be awesome live! “Sometimes I wonder what’s it going to take to end all this suffering.”

No one’s suffering listening to Kentucky!

The album closes with the stunningly beautiful The Rambler. This is a heartfelt ballad telling the story of a ramblin’ man’s regrets at not always being there for his family. Jasin Todd, formerly of Shinedown, brought this song to the boys and, with a few tweaks, they’ve made it their own. It’s got some of my favourite lines in it. Chris’ emotional, straight from the heart, vocal creates the imagery to perfection as he proclaims, “I played a pretty Southern girl right out of her dress.” I’ve had the pleasure of hearing this one played live and it was one of the highlights of the set. A goosebumps moment. And yes, I do – “turn the radio up when your heart breaks down.”

Black Stone Cherry’s hearts are in Kentucky, their families and their souls are in Kentucky so there was only really ever one choice for the title of this album. True Black Stone Cherry fans are right in the heart of Kentucky with them.

10/10

But wait….there’s more for those fans of vinyl among you.  I bought this record on both CD and vinyl- yes, I’m a bit old school and proud of it. The vinyl came with a free digital download code that revealed two hidden treasures in the way of bonus tracks – I Am The Lion and Evil.

I Am The Lion is a solid, hard, head banging track but is perhaps more akin to the commercial vibe of Magic Mountain.

Evil on the other hand is a hidden gem. There’s strong Led Zeppelin influences to the opening section, even in Chris’ vocal. A stunning guitar solo is followed by a change of vibe. Suddenly it’s a step back to the 1950’s rock’n’roll of Chuck Berry with a healthy dose of Southern charm. There’s nothing Evil about this one. It’s pure genius and pleasure to hear these boys from Kentucky having so much fun.

 (credits to the owners of the images used -sourced via Google)