Album Review: Murcielago (Self-Titled Debut)

Murcielago is a record five years in the making. Originally recorded around 2010, its release was put on ice after label trouble and changes to the band’s lineup. Then in late 2014, Murcielago’s current lineup took another stab at recording their debut, and two weeks later (with a total of four days of recording/studio work) it was finally done. The stone-y quad out of Portland, Maine has been compared to 70’s gods Led Zeppelin, and at times the record will undoubtedly give you a serious case of the throwbacks with strong elements of Zep (think the heaviness of the opening riff to “How Many More Times” and the hypnotic trippiness of “No Quarter” on the track “Fairlane Swain”). They’ve also been compared to electric wizards Black Sabbath. It’s an impossibly heavy record dripping from the get go with standout riffs, slick fuzz and the kind of heavy metal swagger that brings the groupies to the stage door, plaster casts in hand.

If the name Murcielago is making you scratch your big hair in wonder, let me clear that up for you. The word has actual meaning as well as some cool mythology attached to it. It’s also been used by Italian luxury auto maker Lamborghini, who added the appealing word to a line of cars they manufactured during 2001-2010. However, according to Murcielago vocalist and bass player Neil Collins, he first heard the word (which is Spanish for “bat”) during a two-year sailing trip he took in Columbia. After he returned, the word was still rolling around in his head. It was then that Murcielago guitarist Matt Robbins shared the folklore of “Murcielago”: a tale of a fictional bull that fought in a match against a conquistador so valiantly that the crowd demanded it’s life be spared. According to local legend, the un-killable Murcielago lived out his days on a Spanish ranch and sired 70 offspring. A hard-as-nails story that is directly in line with the members of Murcielago and their too-tough-to-quit mentality and spirit.

For the better part of 25 years Collins has been shaking up the the inhabitants of Maine and beyond in other bands like the long-running much loved local heavies Twisted Roots, and electro-indie rock outfit, Space vs. Speed. Murcielago guitarist Ian Ross was in the mid-90’s badass Boston stoner metal band, Roadsaw. To help cultivate their vintage sound the band uses loads of era-specific gear like mid-sixties and seventies Gibson guitars, and Sunn Model T amps. Collins himself favors the sweet sounds that can only come from a 1971 Acoustic Control 370/301 stack. Such are the lustworthy toys that worshipers of of 70’s grooves geek the fuck out to. But perhaps I might have laid it on a bit thick when it comes to where Murcielago’s sound mainly emanates from. There are plenty of modern influences evident on the record such as hefty servings of the sludgy fuzz and soaring solos that Soundgarden is known for. Murcielago also credits Vancouver BC band Black Mountain, O.C. greats Fu Manchu and Josh Homme’s “other” band Kyuss as some of their many inspirations. And unless my ears are mistaken, I thought I heard glimmers of Queens of the Stone Age somewhere along the way on the track, “Money”.

That said, I’m pretty sure after listening to the ten tracks on Murcielago, you will head directly back to the year 1979 by pulling out your copy of Molly Hatchet’s Flirtin With Disaster (you DO have that record, don’t you?) while considering how many times you masturbated to the top-heavy images of Frank Frazetta’s mythical sword-wielding women (or men because why not). And if that doesn’t sound like a party to you, it’s quite possible you might be dead, Jack.