Texan doom metallers Thunder Horse lay the emphasis squarely on the ‘metal’ on their new live album Dead Alive In Texas – but you won’t hear any complaints coming from me about that!
The band leads the listener on a nine track romp through raw, riff-infested waters on DAiT, rarely pausing for breath as they send the crowd what sounds to my untutored ear like paroxysms of headbanging joy at every turn.

And why would you not enjoy yourself at a Thunder Horse show? The band’s last album, After The Fall, proved to anybody with ears to hear that they are rather a smart proposition in doom terms, and, even though they only reprise a couple of tracks from that album (one of them sensibly being the riotous New Normal) on this album, the other material, especially Demons Speak (from their self-titled debut) and Song For The Ferryman (from second album Chosen One), both serve as proof that that last record wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

The whole band sound, well, thunderous, across the set, locked in together tightly but still loose enough to give the music a bit of swing in all the right places. In fact the only real misstep here is a slightly tepid take on the Motörhead classic Ace of Spades, which just doesn’t really sit comfortably against the band’s own, infinitely more confidently-delivered material. What should have rounded the set out triumphantly just feels a little like a damp squib in the context of the rest of the set.

Still, that’s a small complaint, and, if you’re new to this band it might well be worth your while getting hold of this album to find out just how good Thunder Horse can be.

Dead Alive In Texas releases on July 5th