Buffalo - Dead Forever... download free

The influence of Black Sabbath and above all Blue Cheer can hardly be overheard on this debut album. Grinding tempi and the tendency towards black-magical lyrics, leave no doubt where textural and textual inspiration is found. Still, Buffalo evokes something of an own atmosphere. This is alternately cold and bitter, like on the opening track, that suggests satanism without actually giving the game away, and dispairingly bluesy like on Suzie sunshine, simple blues-rock, really. There are almost no overdubs, except for the guitar solos, so the sound is quite straightforward. Baxter proves himself a talented guitarist, but it is just not enough to save the whole album. Too many tracks are weighty slow-rock with heavy riffs and without any form of variation. The cover of Blues Image's Pay my dues isn't bad (Baxter pulls all stops) but The Free's I'm a mover is not very succesful. The expressive voice of Rodgers is sorely missed and the ''moving'' drive of the original has got lost somewhere in the process. The album shows some promise, but sounds also dated. Clearly the band would need more inventiveness to satisfy discerning listeners.