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The new edition includes one more song, and if my research is correct, it is precisely the first one, "Hard Ducks". An unusual idea, after all, such an opener is very defining for an album. Not bad at all, and it gets ton-heavy here, with distorted vocals over sluggish rock. Oh right, that means rocks, well, it sounds like that too. The sound is similar to what it always seems to be in this genre: thick, with guitar/bass walls that push, yet without sounding mechanical, but somehow soft. In addition, there are wailing solos and beautifully repetitive, accentuated, rhythmic riffs. Sometimes it sounds as if you are hearing it from the neighbor's apartment because the low frequencies dominate so much. OJM takes its time to build a song, both in tempo and in savoring a riff, and vocals are more of an embellishment for some songs.
After the listener has been pounded flat with the musical meat hammer for three songs, there is a somewhat reduced track with "You Come", which builds a dark tension and gives the Ozzy-like vocals and the solo guitar plenty of space to slowly build up. Next comes a STOOGES cover with "TV Eye", which is supposed to remain the punchiest song on the album. It works surprisingly well with the Stoner sound, punk test passed. In the second half of the album, the songs feel a bit more varied to me; with "As I Know", you first get the feeling that the singer is addressing you directly instead of sounding like a distorted frequency from a broken radio. Such passages, just like occasional psychedelic guitar effects, prevent the music from becoming too monotonous and thus turning into background noise. However, you also have to enjoy blues jam sessions to appreciate certain pieces, as OJM likes to savor those. Most of the time, everything feels well-structured, and before you get lost in stoned noodling, a nice change, a vocal part, or whatever stylistic devices the professional rocker has in his trick bag to fend off boredom comes along. The whole thing is nicely rounded off with the eight-and-a-half-minute "Theorem", where the listener is instrumentally taken on a little journey up and down through various intensity zones of the song as a farewell.
For all lovers of Italian music who want to hear something other than PUCCINI or AL BANO & ROMINA POWER, I can recommend this album. Personally, Stonerrock quickly becomes too uniform for me and therefore doesn't often make it onto my playlist, but perhaps that would be different with appropriate cannabis-induced stoning of my person. I see an interesting scientific question here.
