So Sayeth – The Silver Tongue (Self-Release)
By Jay Snyder
May 4, 2009

This one almost got damned to the eternal review pile, you know that pile that never seems to whittle away because there’s a first stack going strong and it too seems belligerent on going down. I received The Silver Tongue a few weeks back and I never got around to listening to it. During this time a brutal stomach bug kicked in and left me bed ridden for a few days; including a night bereft of a single wink. In the early morning hours as delirium took hold, I started thumbing through some of the discs I had planned on reviewing once I was better. In turn, So Sayeth’s debut The Silver Tongue popped up again and I felt it was time to give the record its dues. Despite a hazy brain, one full spin told me I better not ignore the Indiana based four-piece because this album gave me exactly the energy boost I needed in my sorry state!

The Silver Tongue is 11 tracks strong, brimming with a busy boogie of classic, stoner, doom and southern rock. All of the requisite ingredients are on hand; twin guitar action that busts out riffs, harmonies and solos fully backed by a boiling, rhythmic assault and vocals that belt it out with gusto. Vocalist/guitarist Kindred was actually a big draw for me on first listen, the guy has got a great set of pipes, capable of both gruff melodies and pristine hooks in one fell swoop. His lyrics about having a good time all the time and general hellraisin’ make this the perfect album for lettin’ loose on those hot summer nights directly on the horizon.

Madman drummer Dave Dalton (who also did an impeccable job of recording this record) and his frenetic artillery actually threw me off on first glance. He pounds his kit like a man possessed and punches things up with a good deal of double-kick drumming, shedding a thrash-y light on otherwise traditional rock n’ roll album. It was rather unexpected at first and I was not sure it totally gelled with everything going on, but now I can’t imagine these tunes without his presence. Basically, it works and works well although it might catch someone off guard expecting a simple two step…yet stick with it, because it really caters to the material’s advantage after a few spins.

The boys start us off in the key of ass-kick minor with “Outrun the Cops”; a perfectly pummeling yet catchy opener which was what immediately made me stand up and take notice. Flawlessly crafted, “Outrun…” slams you through a ringer of searing riffs, high flying solos, crushing metal beats and more vocal hooks than you can shake a stick at. This is a 100 degree barnburner meant to be played to the tune of wheels ripping the pavement amidst a sweltering haze of August scorch. It made me think of a number of different rockers from ATP to Throttlerod to Floodgate, especially Floodgate in terms of the godly slow groove and powerful croons that erupt right before an ending of dizzying double-bass battery!

So Sayeth loses not one iota of energy on the regally riffed “Purple Mountain Tragedy”; a tune full of girth-y thickness due in large part to bassist Clark’s hammering low-end, perfectly backing the soaring twin licks of Kindred and King. Dalton is also a master of cowbell mashing (as showcased on “Outrun the Cops”) and he uses it with abandon here. The symmetrical groove that is created is that of one with the left leg hanging over the doom fence and the right dangling in classic rock territory. They give equal nods to both sides and come up with their pockets filled and another great track under their belt.

A little shift into the staccato churn of In the Meantime era Helmet creeps up in “Ghoster”; a much more metallic offering as opposed to what we’ve heard so far. Dalton’s metallic overdrive tears right through the center of this fucker as riffs are fired off with a much deadlier precision. There’s a little less of the goodtime gospel on hand but they do touch on that stuff later in the track with a grooving bass swagger, bolstering some great southern drawl from Kindred.

Good stuff, but the band is definitely coming from an angrier standpoint throughout. So, what better time to put a slow-motion, sad southern rocker into the pot and let it simmer? None, if you ask me as “When Things go South” is carved from the same kind of megaton riffs that give Throttlerod their visceral power during their slower epics (think “Honest Joe” off of “Hell and High Water”). Don’t think this one is all regret and remorse as Skyn Lizzy (Skynyrd’s southern grit meets Thin Lizzy’s majestic thunder) twin harmonies lift your sorrows and bring the glory into focus in the track’s final run and they’re guaranteed to lift the worst case of bad day blues imaginable. Same goes true for the Lizzy, Clutch and ATP mash-up of “Charity Carwash”, where the southern groove is dangerously maxed out. Dual axe slinging is responsible for a slab of pure, groovy bliss touching on fine harmonies and the kind of slick boogie displayed by Clutch’s Blast Tyrant; cowbell and all.

Which leads us to the album’s absolute highlight, “All Meat, No Taters”, that has an intro not unlike Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage” but way more boozed up on the finest southern moonshine known to man. Even the guitar enters by itself, broadcasting the red hot lick we will be hearing for the tune’s glorious first half before a bass and drum blitzkrieg follows suite. I’m not kidding when I say that the only way this track won’t have you moving is if you’re actually a rock or some other inanimate object. Additionally the lyrics flat out rule and paint a true reflection of the good hospitality boasted by all down to Earth, blue collar rockers the world over. How can I disagree with a line that reads like this, “Every time that you fall, rock n’ roll will pick you up and dust you off, so I never sweat it, crank up the urge and just forget it…” Simple but fuckin’ effective and it helps that Kindred’s vocals are sheer power throughout, making this one that you’ll memorize for the live set without a doubt. The second half, while largely instrumental delightfully builds on the mighty monument of rock erected thus far with killer guitar and rhythm shake-ups and a plethora of seriously classy riffs. If radio had a lick of sense, “All Meat, No Taters” would be the kind of tune that got heavy airplay, but sadly that is just not the case in this day and age.

Grueling, barroom brawl subtlety flutters throughout the whole of “Destroy the Stairs”, a hefty slab of southern doom if I’ve heard one. Riffs are crushing throughout and truck along at a deliberate pace, never too fast but not quite slovenly either. It’s a nimble beast that reminds me of some of the monsters on older ATP records, with a highly emotional second half that cracks with arena thunder and tender Mason Dixon nuance, before descending into a final blast of the killer chorus groove introduced much earlier.

Filthy, highly distorted bass bleeds menace n’ malice in “Too High and Tired”, another turgid slobber-knocker that snickers with a doom-y sneer that washes away the good times and hard-drinkin’ rockers heard earlier at first, but embraces them with a bellowing chorus that will be etched into memory instantaneously. It closes with a godly riff and full-frontal rhythmic shuffle that is almighty in its expanse, captivating and rocking with equal aplomb, clearing the road in style for the anthemic, speedy whiplash of “Dirty Knees”; another one the album’s best rockers. Here guitarists King and Kindred perform a call and response, lick trading business that sucks you in from the get go, providing the bread and butter for a beer tossin’ good time if I’ve ever seen one.

Ending the album with the upstart, Motorhead metal mayhem of “Jaguaro” and the slow-crawl of “Twilight Sentinel”, So Sayeth cap off an impressive debut, just the way it began; freakin’ awesome. I can’t believe I almost passed on this one. So Sayeth really was in danger of getting thrown to the wayside of the review pile that never seems to diminish; one that I may or may not get to, due to time constraints.

Easily the best thing to come out of me throwing up my guts for two days straight in a long time, for had I not been flipping around in bed, I may have never reached for The Silver Tongue in the first place. Anyone looking for a fantastic boulder of classic, southern-fried stoner/metal will more than get their fill with So Sayeth. They’ve set a high bar of quality on the first release and it’ll be interesting to see if they continue to live up to it in the future. I do not doubt them though, as The Silver Tongue is the work of an already accomplished unit that has grown healthily in the practice space and on stage…and they’ll only get better from here. If I didn’t get this for free, I would have most certainly shelled out for it as The Silver Tongue deserves a hallowed place on the shelves of all rock n’ roll collectors out there!


Visit the So Sayeth website at www.sosayeth.com