Vim Fuego
A few fans of Exhorder bought this, hoping it would be a surrogate third album of the Deep South thrashers. Anyone expecting an extreme thrash–fest from this album will be highly disappointed. While Floodgate features a former member of Exhorder, none of the old sound has been retained at all.
Y'see, 'Penalty' is sludgy doom–laden swamp rock, more akin to the likes of Trouble and Monster Magnet than Dark Angel and Pantera. This is an album of huge rock slab guitar riffs and a rhythm section dragged out of the slimy 'gator infested swamps of the Bayou. There is nothing fancy here, just four guys churning out the music they love, without pretension.
Kyle Thomas was the acidic mouthpiece of Exhorder in his thrash incarnation. With Floodgate, he proves highly versatile, and surprisingly comes out with a rough edged blues–y voice, reminiscent of a number of singers from different bands, one moment Trouble, the next Masters of Reality, and the odd touch of Ozzy. Thomas shows an excellent ear for vocal melody, and backing vocal harmonies slide in and out of many of the songs. The Exhorder roar comes out on occasion, to add effect or emphasise a point.
"Whole" is like a soundtrack for that moment of semi–consciousness between waking and sleeping, like Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan". "Second Guesser" jolts you out of that reverie, with an almost hardcore shout–along feel, like a Corrosion Of Conformity or Crowbar track.
Fans of supergroup Down will love this album. Strangely enough, it was released about the same time as 'Nola', and was also recorded in New Orleans. It is basic, no nonsense stoner rock, minus the stoned part and stripped back to the bare bones. You don't even need to get out of it to get into this.