On the Radar: Romero
Loud, riffy and full of the à la mode style of heavy found in bands like Torche, the Wausau, Wisconsin, trio Romero debut with a raucous self-released 7″ called Solitaire. Those who pay attention to such things will note guitarist/vocalist Jeffrey “Madman” Mundt (I don’t know if anyone actually calls him that, but as a fan of Barton Fink, one can hope) is a former drummer of Naked Aggression, but more pivotal to Romero‘s sound than anyone’s past is the grooving riffage, the heavy crashes of drummer/vocalist Ben Brooks and the rumble of Josh Stanchik, which turns an already engaging finale of the first and title-track into a moment of genuine asskickery. Romero will probably be familiar to those acquainted with modern stoner metal, but in both “Solitaire” and “El Sentido Morboso,” they prove they’re definitely worth a look at either their Facebook or Bandcamp pages.
Their intent and their experience is clear. Romero doesn’t come off like a “new” band, and I don’t mean that to say their sound is stale, just that they execute these tracks professionally and with a confidence that comes from years of playing. Mundt sticks to a semi-melodic shout vocally, and his riffs are obviously leading the charge, but he has a few flourishes in his playing on “El Sentido Morboso” that work well with the the intricate style of Stanchik, whose low end is a major source of Solitaire‘s appeal. They run the social networking gamut, with the aforementioned sites as well as a MySpace page, YouTube channel and Twitter feed, so the expectation is that one way or another, we’ll be hearing from them again soon. For now, the vinyl is available at any of the links above, and for those who’d stream it first, the Bandcamp player below allows for just that. There’s even a bonus track to go along with the full 7″.
Tags: Romero, Unsigned bands, Wausau, Wisconsin
