The Hidden Hand
The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote
Southern Lord
2007
The latest in a long list of projects from Doom master extraordinaire Wino (St.
Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, etc.) and the third full length album from
The Hidden Hand. Some people feel that Wino can do no wring and everything
he touches is genius. I am not necessarily a member of that group.
On The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote the Hidden Hand delivers a meaty slab of
Doom rock. I say Doom rock but this album lends itself more strongly to
the rock side of things with a hint of some southern rock influence and I even
hear what I would term as some Seattle sound in here as well which you can
fairly easily hear on The Lesson. There is really only one song that finds
itself out of place and that is Someday Soon which is a Slow and Heavy brooding
menace of nearly funeral proportions. My favorite song though is to be
Lightning Hill with its catchy as hell main riff and bluesy harmonica.
Broke Dog pounds out ferociously with scathing vocals and filth covered guitars
and appears ugly besides all the rest of the epic and flowing songs on The
Resurrection. Wino and crew certainly know how to close out an album as
Slow Rain is a sort of dreamy song with its light and airy vocals and the best
riff on the whole album which runs right through the middle of the song before
devolving into some crazy drum chaos. I love the guitar sound utilized by
this crew, with its bluesy fuzzed out sound that lends itself well to the
occasional slide guitar Wino plays. The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote is a
good album of Doom influenced rock though it really doesn't manage to stand out
to me as something special though I have the inner feeling that quite a few
others will call it "genius" and "monumental." But for the most part I
find The Hidden Hand's latest album to be a laid back and kind of fun tribute to
what Black Sabbath might have sounded like if they had been born in Alabama and
raised on Lynyrd Skynyrd. The message is clear though as "love conquers
fear."