I'm finally getting around to reviewing again. And I'll start with an album that came out in England almost two years ago.

Black Moth plays stoner punk metal. Or is it stoner metal punk? Probably the former.

Black Moth The Killing Jar (New Heavy Sounds)

In any case, we're talking about chock-a-block riffage with engagingly energetic vocals from Harriet Bevan (if that isn't an English name, I don't know what is). Much of the time, Black Moth skips the doomy excesses and prefers to blister ahead full steam. But even on the slower grinders, the product is firm and effective.

Two years is a long time for an album to be around, and I was curious if other folks dug this as much as I do. Seems there are a couple of broad points of agreement. First, this sound has been done before. Second, Black Moth is pretty damned addictive.

Fans of riffage have fewer and fewer opportunities to satisfy their fix these days. Black Moth does so with brain-throttling power and volume. I spent a month starting and stopping this review in an attempt to say something unique and interesting about a sound that lends itself to generic pleasure. Guess what? There's nothing new to say. Black Moth figured that out a long time ago, and so the band simply says nothing new in a most engaging way.

I must have listened to this album twenty times in the last six months--probably more than any other album. I don't know if it's my favorite album of 2013 (oops, make that 2012!), but I do like it a lot. I'm a sucker for power chords and an alto voice, and when those are presented with such skill and energy as Black Moth manages, well, the combination is irresistible.

I enjoy a fancy meal as much as the next guy, but sometimes the day calls for meat and potatoes. Just the basics, preferably presented with a flagon of ale. I can definitely get behind this.

Jon Worley