Heavy Rotation-Spiritual Beggars-"Return To Zero"

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Spiritual Beggars new album "Return To Zero" for some time, after hearing about the addition of new singer Apollo Papathanasio from the Greek metal band Firewind, I was curious to hear what his power metal vocal-style would sound like with the band, and it is pretty much seemless. This band has always had a pretty interesting mix of great musicians comprised of other bands from different genres of metal putting out some pretty incredible albums, one of my favorites being the 2000 release Ad Astra (#31 on my all-time list). "Return To Zero" is another very solid effort by these guys. This one will be a fixture in my MP3 player for quite some time.

What others are saying:

"It wouldn’t be accurate to think of Spiritual Beggars as the first Swedish heavy rock band, because Sweden has been turned on and tuned in since the beginning, but what guitarist Michael Amott’s post-Carcass outfit did was embrace a more modern stoner sound and help found the scene that would later grow into one of the world’s most vibrant and prolific. And what’s more, they rocked. There’s no discounting the earliest work of Spiritual Beggars in the ‘90s. In both quality and influence, 1994’s Spiritual Beggars, 1996’s Another Way to Shine and 1998’s Mantra III are essential documents for anyone looking to understand the growth of European stoner rock.

Spiritual Beggars’ latest offering, Return to Zero (InsideOut/Century Media) is notable before you even hit play because of (Per Wiberg’s moustache, but also) the departure of vocalist JB Christoffersson, who left the band on good terms to focus on his main project, the mighty Grand Magus. Replacing Christoffersson is Apollo Papathanasio of Greek power metallers Firewind – you may have heard the name because guitarist Gus G. is now playing with Ozzy Osbourne – and though Christoffersson’s work on 2002’s On Fire and 2005’s Demons is not to be duplicated, Papathanasio does an admirable job, proving he’s a soulful, versatile singer in his own right, able to match Amott’s riff and solo magic with a bluesy throat and powerful delivery, and ultimately a worthy successor to Christoffersson and original vocalist Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand....(Read more)

------------------------------------------------------------------

TRACKLIST:

01.Return to Zero (Intro)
02.Lost in Yesterday
03.Star Born
04.The Chaos of Rebirth
05.We are Free
06.Spirit of the Wind
07.Coming Home
08.Concrete Horizon
09.A New Dawn Rising
10.Believe in Me
11.Dead Weight
12.The Road Less Travelled
13.Time to Live (Bonus Track)

MySpace|Facebook|Listen

Buy: ATIH|Amazon

Album Of The Week-Spiritual Beggars-"Demons" (2005)

The Album Of The Week is "Demons" by Spiritual Beggars.



Review:

"The stoner rock/metal pool is a considerably large one, full of bands venerating the 70's sound of the giants such as Sabbath and Deep Purple. As with most cult genres, there is a lot of rubbish floating about, and often the music is extremely one-dimensional and simply ripps off the sound. Of course there are some real gems around, and certainly "Demons" is a gravely overlooked stroke of genius. For one thing the general feel of the album is far superior to many of the stoner bands. The initial impression of the special edition version is accomplished, dark and refined cover art, recalling the mysterious and tongue-in-cheek stylings of Sabbath. This is wonderfully fresh when you consider the somewhat token art of many stoner bands, such as Bongzilla and Monster Magnet's wacky colours and cover designs. So straight away you get the sense of a "serious" group of musicians trying to professionally re-create the olden metal days with a new twist. And the job is done very admirably.

The first thing that strikes me about this album is the fantastic groove throughout that never at any point becomes tiresome. Too many times these type of bands simply re-hash repetitive riffing, but on "Demons" Amott's guitar writing is spot on. Sumptuous time changes and riff chopping/changing that simply floors you as a listener, making you guess the next direction they will take makes this a display of refined and ultimately skilful playing.

There are plenty of straight up hard rock songs, such as the energetic "Throwing Your Life Away", which acts as a perfect kick-start after the scene-setting intro. The next two tracks are once again simplistic in approach but executed with such energy and power, the chorus to "Salt In Your Wounds" is extremely catchy, and the commanding vocal delivery from JB in "One Man Army" is sure to get your adrenaline going. The last of the simple formula comes in "Treading Water", which while being decent, is possibly the weakest track on the album, as it simply becomes a bit mundane after a few listens.

In between the formulaic (but still very fun) rockers, Amott shows off his writing and playing ability on some absolutely gorgeous pieces. This is mostly in the middle of the album, in the form of "Through The Halls", "Dying Every Day", "Born To Die" and "In My Blood". These songs simply ooze class, mostly in the structure department, for example the dreamy, swimming verse and chorus of "Through The Halls" gives way to a thunderous sludging riff with excellent time changes and flowery guitar work. "Dying Every Day" is perhaps my favourite part of the album, it flows through so many different directions seamlessly, from the adrenaline pumping main riff, the slower dreamy chorus, then (similar to "Through The Halls") into a massively heavy low end riff, some more fine solos, time changes, riff changes...quite simply everything you can desire from a classic metal song. "In My Blood" is definitely the heaviest song on the album; JB's low growly vocals give it a dirty, gritty feeling, complemented perfectly by the most brutal of riffs, a definite killer track. Mention should also go to the fine closer `No One Heard', possibly the darkest song on the album with a fine `bleak' quality that ends a superb album with a fine sophisticated edge.

If you are a fan of the old metal days, giants such as Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Deep Purple etc...then you should seriously consider this album. It is horribly overlooked, but they seem to be getting more recognition with the release of `Demons', which is certainly deserved." (Tom Chase, Amazon.com customer)

Track Listing:

Disc: 1

1. Inner Strength (Intro)
2. Throwing Your Life Away
3. Salt in Your Wounds
4. One Man Army
5. Through the Halls
6. Treading Water
7. Dying Every Day
8. Born to Die
9. Born to Die (Reprise)
10. In My Blood
11. Elusive
12. Sleeping with One Eye Open
13. No One Heard

Disc: 2

1. Monster Astronauts
2. Angel of Betrayal
3. Young Man, Old Soul
4. Wonderful World
5. Blind Mountain
6. Guitar Solo - Spiritual Beggars,
7. Look Back
8. Not Fragile (Jam)

MySpace

Album Of The Day-Spiritual Beggars-"Ad Astra" (2000)

The Album Of The Day is "Ad Astra" by Spiritual Beggars.



Review:

More colorful and evolved songs like "Sedated" typify the dynamic but still quite heavy sound of Spiritual Beggars' third release, Ad Astra. The band had previously stuck to a contemporary stoner palette somewhere between the thundering Kyuss and chaotic Corrosion of Conformity, but everything from the Doors ("Per Aspera Ad Astra") to Deep Purple ("Wonderful World" and others) gets folded into the retro metal mix on this release. Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand's more aggressive vocal work clears up any confusion about the group's modernity, but relevance really isn't an issue with music this crushing (yet listenable). Just like the first two Spiritual Beggars records, Ad Astra's opener, "Left Brain Ambassadors," is a hard rock juggernaut, and its only fault is the setting of a musical standard that is practically impossible to maintain through the following 13 tracks. The band almost pulls it off with cunning takes on '70s elders like Kiss on the Love Gun-influenced "Save Your Soul" and during more traditional Kyuss references like "On Dark Rivers." If it weren't for the out of place ballad "It's Over," Ad Astra would bake like a sun dancer in the heat of stoner rock perfection. (Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide)

Track Listing:

01. Left Brain Ambassadors
02. Wonderful World
03. Sedated
04. Angel of Betrayal
05. Blessed
06. Per Aspera Ad Astra
07. Save Your Soul
08. Until The Morning
09. Escaping The Fools
10. On dark Rivers
11. The Goddess
12. Mantra

Play Entire Album Stream

MySpace

Spiritual Beggars Debut Reissued by Regain Records

TRENTON, N.J. – Regain Records is proud to reissue the debut album from Spiritual Beggars.

Originally released in 1994 by Wrong Again Records (the label that later became Regain Records) the self-titled album was the world’s introduction to former Carcass guitarist Mike Amott’s hard rock alter ego. Through the course of six albums, all released as as Amott’s schedule has permitted in between his work with current band Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars has shaken its image as a mere side project and established itself as a genre-defining band in its own rite.

Wrong Again`s second release ever, Spiritual Beggars, has been a tough find for quite some time, and now more recent converts to the band will have the opportunity to sample the band`s beginnings. Older fans will also be interested to find four bonus tracks on the reissue: "Blind Mountain," "If You Should Leave," "Nowhere To Go," and "Sour Stains."

"You know, I spent at least five years diligently looking all over the US and Europe for this album, and after many frustrating dead ends, I decided that it`s one tough motherfucker to track down. Then one day, it appeared on Ebay, and for a mere $71.00, it`s finally mine, all mine, all fucking mine [and no you can`t borrow it, touch it or even think about asking me to play it for you]! So, what`s so special about Spiritual Beggars`...debut? ...Spiritual Beggars is a fucking amazing `70s/psychedelic/stoner rock band and I had to know what their debut sounded like. ...Mike Amott plays all guitars for the band, so you know that no matter how many years ago it was made, there`s got to be some killer guitar shit on this disc."
- Deadtide.com


"...the bonus tracks give the other songs a run for their money, surprisingly. Not filler at all. Everyone sounds great on this album though, especially Ludwig, his drumming is noticeably jazzy and well-executed."
- Metal-Archives.com