ROMERO, Take The Potion Lp

(Grindcore Karaoke Records)

Review by Beert

Disclaimer: I was way into this band prior to this album coming out. I had the privilege of playing a show with them in a small venue in my hometown, and drooled incessantly for this release to come out. The record will be 2 years old this year, but it is a vital part of my collection.

Romero plays a heavy/doom/stoner style of music, if it must be classified. Not only did I know I was going to enjoy this record from hearing their previous 7-inch release Solitaire (Triceratrax Records), but upon pulling the beautiful red vinyl from the album sleeve, it was encased in a black inner sleeve. This individuality was truly appreciated—no white inner sleeve like everyone else. This was going to be something special. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Right from the start of “Compliments & Cocktails,” you can’t help but start to bang your head, and feel butterflies in your stomach. The music starts a little fast and chaotic, and settles into some super catchy riffage. The tribal drums only add to this. And the vocals aren’t the typical guttural growling/screaming associated with this style of music. Jeff Mundt can sing. And his voice fits so well over the guitars and drums, it comes across as almost another instrument in the band. Not to disappoint, drummer Ben Brooks adds a deeper, gruffer vocal style, which fits together with Mundt’s singing.

The album continues on with so many hooks and catches, you can’t help but to immerse yourself in it. “Couch Lock,” the second song, starts off mellow, bringing your heart rate to a reasonable pace. It slowly builds into a heavy fucking song. Both vocalists screaming over each other, the music pummels you into loving this. “Couch Lock” then brings a well-tempoed guitar barrage that leads into one of the biggest hooks on the album.

Heavier and heavier as it moves, without resorting to super sludginess or extreme repetitiveness, Take The Potion should have you fully embraced and unaware of anything other than the music.

“Wheeling Dervish,” on side 2, has a nice psychedelic interlude, and then rebuilds into a monolith of audio. Definitely not taking away from the break in the marching of the monster that Romero brings, the slower and lighter breaks mid-song bring you back to the surface of your senses for a moment before you are once again immersed into heavy guitars and a rhythm section that drives you like a cruel boss heading up a prison chain-gang…yet you still beg for it.

Finishing up with “In The Heather” is brilliant. Again, heavy hooks abound. Like a rock ‘n’ roll meat locker. The vocal “Whoas” belted out by Mundt add what you didn’t know was missing. The song would be great without them, but once you hear them, “In The Heather” cannot exist without it.

This album continues to provide great songwriting and heart as it carries on. The layers that are built, song to song, are incredible. All members of Romero are very talented masters of their craft. I really cannot list one issue with this album to complain about.

Upon completion of Romero’s Take The Potion, I feel like taking a road trip in a fully loaded semi—a modern day incarnation of Jerry Reed’s “Snowman” from Smokey & The Bandit, with a “come along for the ride or get the fuck out of my way” attitude. Romero should be the theme music for Galactus, wherever he roams to devour planets.

If you weren’t a Romero fan from the start, Take The Potion will lead you down the path of righteousness and you will appreciate the heavy.

Merchandise, including the album reviewed, can be purchased at:

www.romeroisloud.com