Germanic star-streakers Black Space Riders have slowly and methodically evolved over the years from laser-blasting stoner rock warriors to post-punky prog-metal explorers willing to wander wherever the muse leads them. We Have Been Here Before is their seventh album and definitely their most adventurous.
Certainly, there are moments of that harken back to the band’s bombastic salad days: AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGH is a wallop of dope-metal guitars and acid-tongued grunge, Leaving The Hill is pleasantly woozy space rock, and Worlds Collide Dans Ma Tete is all amps-to-11 crunch.
So it rocks when it has to. But most of the album is dedicated to more nuanced sounds.
The smooth, haunting This Flow is reminiscent of Ian Astbury’s downtempo electronica period (remember that?). Trapped In An Endless Loop is part alt-metal, part convulsive new wave. Bracing single Fear No More is sorta like The Polyphonic Spree in space. You get the idea. It’s out there, man.
