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El Thule - Green Magic
Review by John Pegoraro (StonerRock.com)
Go Down Records/Riff Records
Release date: September/October 2007


I had no interest in El Thule up until I listened to Green Magic. Their last album, No Guts, No Glory, had plenty of punk-ish energy, but not enough to overcome a generic sound. I would've pawned the Italian's latest off on one of the other writers had I not noticed that it was produced by Truckfighters' Niklas "Mr. Dango" Kallgren, whose done some impressive work, most recently with Asteroid. If nothing else, Green Magic would sound pretty good.

And that it does. It also tears your face off. Pushed to the red, it has a fierce intensity that would make even the weepiest of ballads seem rabid. But Green Magic is free of any saccharine sentiments. It's a flurry of loud, caustic, ugly riffs, with little room for subtlety – even the sweeping outro to "Adam Bomb" swings with the grace of a sack full of bricks. El Thule hits you with as much brute force as possible, and that gives a song like "Black Mamba" the relentless energy it needs. If anything, Green Magic is in the running as the world's angriest stoner rock album.

El Thule's managed quite a feat – Green Magic has all the ugly, endearing qualities of scummy, unwashed punk without sounding anything like it. It's a rock album, and a damn good one to boot.