Back before Southern Lord became the extreme doom/drone/black metal juggernaut that is it today, the label released several records that were much closer to the late 90's stoner rock sound than the crushing doom metal that has become the Lord's calling card. One of those bands was The Want, a band from New Jersey who released their debut album on Southern Lord in 2000 called Greatest Hits Vol. 5. The Want definitely stood out from the darker, doom metal side of the label with their heavy, upbeat hard rock that garnered a lot of comparisons to Led Zeppelin. After that album came out, I didn't hear much at all from the band and it's members, and they appeared to slip into obscurity.

Then comes this new album from a band called Eighteen Wheels Burning that was just released by stoner rock's last guiding light, Meteorcity, and it turns out that this band features a couple of members of The Want, namely bassist Jeff Mackey and guitarist Adam Valk. Like The Want, Eighteen Wheels Burning take a total retro-70's approach to their hard rock, with dark bluesy riffing and heavy rocking drums, rough but earnest singing, and a raw, dry recording that has a definite old-school sound to it. Lots of cowbell, pounding rhythms, lengthy bouts of stoned wah-drenched soloing and the occasional trippy guitar effect, too. The sound is drawn directly from the likes of Mountain, Cactus, Grand Funk Captain Beyond, Budgie, and other more obscure 70's heavy rock, grooving and pummeling, heavy and tripped out boogie crunch, with just a smattering of that Zep swing carried over from The Want, but added with the occasional burst of hardcore energy and thrashing speed, or slower, Sabbath-style doominess. Pretty cool. In gatefold style packaging.