Open Fire

If you're looking for some nice, tidily packaged, Pro Tools smoothed over rock, then you've come to the wrong place, buster. But if it's greasy, high cholesterol heavy metal that you crave, then a heaping helping of Alabama Thunderpussy's 2007 release, Open Fire, should certainly hit the spot. Although often lumped in with the stoner rock genre, Alabama Thunderpussy packs much more metallic muscle than the average stoner band — and this sonic wallop remains intact on Open Fire, despite the departure of longtime vocalist Johnny Throckmorton. New singer Kyle Thomas is one heck of a hollerer though (in the Pepper Keenan/John Garcia mold), so as a result, the group's trademark Sab-esque metal sound remains very much intact — especially on such standouts as "The Cleansing" and "The Beggar." Retro heavy metal completely devoid of gimmicks is the name of the game here — and what a treat it is to hear it in this day and age.