Bison Machine hails from Detroit and was founded in 2010. Since then, they have been perfecting their sound, which is an amazing blend of stoner rock and blues, seemingly coming from the era when blues gave birth to hard rock. So it's not a surprise that the music on Hoarfrost incorporates all the needed elements like fuzz, riffs and psychedelics. Furthermore the band is blessed with very good vocals for this kind of music.
Opener 'Cosmic Ark' and 'Viking Hand' are brilliant vintage rock songs, driving on a solid riff and (for the main part) a upbeat tempo. With these songs, Bison Machine proves that you don't have to make complicated songstructures to be a convincing rock band. 'Gamekeeper's Thump' shows the psychedelic side of this band, becoming an excellent ballad with an space rock atmosphere.
If I have to compare them to other bands, I think that Led Zeppelin, Golden Earring and Black Sabbath will have be the biggest influences on the music. Yet, in the present day rock world, this quartet can easily stand next to bands like Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats or Kadavar. The quality of the songs is very high and they're well-varied. Bison Machine doesn't only sound like a vintage hard rock band, they also breathe same, almost occult, atmosphere.
The 'ancient rock' feel is at it's peak on 'Speed Of Darkness', another bluesy rocker which will please a lot of old rockers like me and hopefully find a lot of new fans for this kind of music. I heard a lot of bands in this genre before but I must say that Bison Machine is one of the few who really succeeds in bringing back the feeling I had when I played my father's old records for the first time, which is a huge plus for this band.
So all I can say is this: if you're into stoner rock, psychedelic rock or just miss 'ye olde days of rock 'n' roll', get your hands on a copy of this album. It doesn't really get any more vintage than this. I bet if you play this at a wedding or other party, many people will think it belongs there, right between the classics of Ram Jam, Deep Purple or Rainbow, along of course with the bands I mentioned earlier.
Serge