Gov't Mule
The Deep End, Volume 1

Now don't tell me I'm just the usual nostalgic crybaby! Well, maybe I am a bit, I confess. But there are different ways to celebrate a friend who leaves. And I truly believe that the Gov't Mule have done it in the best way with this album. Firstly, by not renouncing themselves. Sometimes there's a temptation to confront a loss with radical changes. I'm not here to debate whether these kinds of choices are right or wrong in general. It's too subjective a topic. I simply believe they wouldn't have been right for these proud Southerners who have had the blues in their blood forever, shaken with a bit of alcohol and a good dose of Confederate pride. People who have been eating dust all their life and know well that to dust we return. 

Allen Woody is no longer here, and his place can't be replaced just overnight. And not even a series of highly decorated guests (including Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Roger Glover, and Flea) will make him forgotten. However, they can move forward with the awareness that music can always provide the right flow to the chaos of our emotions. It's from these premises that “The Deep End, Volume 1” is born, an album where the band showcases their usual brilliant and multifaceted artistic flair, managing to masterfully blend the most varied influences on the foundations of their beloved southern rock.

There's no denying it, this is an album that lingers on an unequivocally melancholic mood, but it's equally evident that the vibrations speak in the language they always have: a healthy, honest, and sweaty rock'n'roll. Master Haynes is, as usual, tucked away in the precious forge, crafting riffs of purest metal. However, the rough and saturated sounds of the guitars are measured, favoring a more eclectic and chiseling work. At his side, the trusty Abts shows his usual dynamism, skilfully molding and adapting the tools of the trade to every situation. Passion is felt throughout every groove of this album. In the visceral blues of "Worried Down With the Blues", which features Gregg Allman on organ and vocals. Or in the instrumental with a fusion flavor "Sco-mule", with another exceptional guest: John Scofield. Time slips away unnoticed, among more energetic tracks ("Fool's Moon", "Life on the Outside") and irresistible funky surges ("Tear Me Down", "Down and Out in New York City").

Of course, the ballads full of feeling are not missing ("Banks of the Deep End" and "Beautifully Broken”), but the added value is provided by the spot-on covers, among which I must mention “Maybe I’m a Leo” by Deep Purple, “Effigy” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the last track played with Woody, the intense "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" by Grand Funk Railroad. Ultimately a genuine work that showcases their usual desire for improvisation, combined with a renewed compositional inspiration. The Government Mules have carried a huge burden on their back, the umpteenth one, but they continue relentlessly on their path. Probably, they don't know how to do anything else but this, yet they do it the best way they know how.