MOTHERSHIP – ‘Live Over Freak Valley’ Album review.

Words El Jefe.

While on a European tour with the equally mighty Wo Fat, Dallas, Texas power rock trio Mothership, stopped off at Freak Valley and have delivered us their Live Over Freak Valley LP, and fans of heavy music should be grateful they did. Sounding like the bastard spawn of Blue Cheer, Sabbath with Hendrix looking on, Mothership combine heavy-handed riffs with a powerful groove but most importantly sound like they’re having a blast when they hit the stage. The Juett brothers masterfully handle the guitar and bass duties while splitting the vocals between them and drummer Judge Smith lays down some ballsy and fluid drum beats to tie the whole thing together

Opening the set with ‘Hallucination’, an instrumental that starts with a slow crawl but soon kicks in with a galloping riff-fest. They back it up immediately with the behemoth tune ‘Lunar Master’.

There’s a bit of loose banter and a thank you to the Sun for coming out which are just a momentary pause before slamming into the groove-riddled ‘Cosmic Rain’ and ‘Serpents Throne’.

‘Tamu Massif’, starts with a slinky bass riff and this instrumental takes us on a journey through the magma of a volcano, with large doses of spooky guitar which are punctuated with some ripping blasts of high-powered riffs.

The second to last tune ‘City Nights’ is a brawling straight-up rock monster that brings to mind Radio Birdman at their riff-driven best and is dedicated to drinking and rock’n’roll nights out on the town.

After a brief thank you to their touring buddies, a short anecdote about some advice once delivered to them about needing a ballad to succeed, and some minor crowd-baiting, Mothership launch into the epic ‘Win Or Lose’ (make sure it’s the slow one, not the fast one!) for their final orbit.

If classic rock is your bag, and this is classic rock with a capital C, you should dig these dudes. Songs, musicianship and “tonne o’ lead” heavy with the guitar showering the universe with sparks and the smell of burning valves and a ball-tearing rhythm section. Sounds like a recipe for some killer rock to me, and this live LP certainly delivers some amazing songs and sounds.

Mothership – Live Over Freak Valley is available now through Ripple Music HERE.

Mothership: Site // Facebook // Bandcamp // Twitter // Youtube.
Ripple Music: Site // Facebook // Bandcamp // Twitter // Youtube .