Stuck Mojo – Southern Born Killers (Napalm Records)

Thursday, 14th March 2013
Rating: 7/10

Sheesh, it really was 10 years ago when Stuck Mojo were all over the place on WCW Wrestling? My God, where does the time go? Their Rising album was their arguable peak, the album that allowed the band to have some very minor crossover appeal, becoming Century Media’s biggest selling artist in the late 90’s. It would all come to a gradual crawl, as tensions between singer Bonz and guitarist/songwriter Rich Ward came to a head, resulting in the band’s breakup in the early part of this decade.

Ever the determined one, Ward has brought back Stuck Mojo with a new singer (Lord Nelson) and a new, but not very new album with Southern Born Killers. Said album has been completed for well over two years and has already made the rounds on those pesky download sites, so leave it up to Napalm Records to pick up the ball and put this out.

By all accounts, Stuck Mojo is still rap metal. Lord Nelson’s dirty rhymes flow quite well on “I’m American” and the very politically charted “Open Season” which is aimed at the terrorism problem both at home and abroad. In fact, it is Mojo’s political stance that carries this album – Ward and co. pull no punches and aren’t afraid to point the finger (see also the sampled “For the Cause of Allah”).

Those thick grooves are still present, Ward, a master of a Southern-fried Pantera barbecue doles out some pretty swift riffs in “The Sky Is Falling” and the ironic “Metal Is Dead.” Hats off to Ward for some well-placed clean vox as well in “The Sky Is Falling” and “I’m American.”

Stuck Mojo may never reach their popularity of the late 90’s, but Southern Born Killers is a rather up-and-tumble batch of down-home groove metal without any annoying street traits and hip-hop credo. For even better glimpse as to what Stuck Mojo is going for, check out the video for “Open Season” – it’s unabashed attack on extreme Islam takes chances few bands would, and for that, Stuck Mojo’s presence in the metal scene is justified.

 www.myspace.com/stuckmojo

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

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