The Company Band
The Company Band

The Company Band is truly a delightful company of artists. Although the group's name might not ring a bell for many, its members, who came together in 2006, are quite well-known: Neil Fallon (Clutch) on vocals, James Rota (Fireball Ministry) on guitar, Jess Margera (CKY) on drums, Brad Davis (FU Manchu) on bass, and Dave Bone on guitar.
After releasing the EP "Sign Here, Here and Here" in 2007, they came out with their first self-titled full-length album in 2009. As a big fan of Clutch’s voice and style, I immediately grabbed the album in question, also intrigued by my limited knowledge of the other artists' origins (except for Fu Manchu, of course).

The album kicks off powerfully: a nice strike with guitar and drums, then the voice comes in and finally the bass and second guitar complete the mix. The sounds are well-crafted, aggressive yet clean: I like them a lot! Fat and midrange bass, massive choruses; but throughout the album, the real stars are the powerful drum basses and Neil Fallon's unmistakable voice.

The first song "Zombie Barricades" flows as smoothly as oil and somewhat dictates the general style of the album: hard rock, featuring nice melodies, fairly simple song development, with modern and well-crafted sounds and a touch of blues (which certainly becomes more evident in the following songs), given especially by the power and type of timbre of the frontman's voice. It is indeed the singer who, in my opinion, shifts the album more towards his way of making music, closely aligning the entire product’s style to Clutch’s most recent works, resulting in a more listener-friendly experience (nothing wrong with that), and infused with a pure rock soul.

My favorite tracks are (as always) the most rhythmic and cheeky ones: "Djinn And Pentatonic," "Hot Topic Woman," and "Who Else But Us?" are great pieces; excellent vocals and fantastic drumming, simple but impact-oriented. The album remains consistently high-level.

In essence, I deem it an excellent work, honest and very enjoyable to listen to at high volume. A must for genre enthusiasts.

Track list:

1. Zombie Barricades

2. It's A Confusing World

3. Djinn And Pentatonic

4. Inline Six

5. Hot Topic Woman

6. All's Well In Milton Keynes

7. Who Else But Us?

8. CD&W

9. Love Means Never Having To Say You're Ugly

10. Lethe Waters