Album Review: Bokassa - All Out Of Dreams
Reviewed by Tim Finch
The Bokassa train is one that I’ve been riding since the very beginning, back in January of 2017 the bands debt album landed on my desk two months prior to its release. The synopsis describing the band as “stoner punk” immediately tweaked my interest and I gave the album a spin. From that moment on I was hooked, Bokassa resonated with me, the album was an album of the year contender that December. I was well and truly hooked.
Luckily (for me and the band) the following year Lars Ulrich also got bitten by the Bokassa bug, he booked them on Metallica's 2019 stadium tour and I got to witness them in huge arenas across Europe. It was a magnificent time and showed the young bands versatility; from destroying club venues in their native Norway they were, in three short years, playing to tens of thousands of people a night across some of the continents biggest venues!
From there the band have gone on, two further studio albums, a headline tour of the UK and Europe and more recently they covered the length on the UK once more with another of Lars’ favourites, Therapy? Sadly original bassist Bård Linga amicably split from the band in January of this year, but with the new album already in the bag this will be his parting gift for the fans.
New album ‘All Out Of Dreams’ kicks off where ‘Molotov Rocktail’ left off, straight out of the blocks comes the raucous ‘The Ending Starts Today’ with its in your face opening riff and Olav’s thunderous drums packing their usual punch.
Long term Bokassa fans will note that the last album had a more polished, slightly more commercial feel to it than previous efforts. A point that Jørn acknowledged to us in a recent conversation. His writing on this album purposefully takes a step back from the more commercial feel, the sound has a more raw feel, his riffs teeter on the precipice of out and out danger as they drag the listener kicking and screaming through thirty three minutes of aggression.
‘Straight Edgelord’ has a gritty feel that soon turns anthemic, whilst title track ‘All Out Of Dreams’ adds a hint of electronica to the bands already masterful sound. ‘Everyone Falls In The End’ is a forty six second romp in the vein of Napalm Death but with a punkier edge, whilst ‘Gung Ho’ slows things down with a heavier stoner influence creeping in.
Following the commercial success of the previous album, ‘All Out Of Dreams' sees Bokassa veer more towards their roots, no doubt pleasing the old school fans. From the off it’s a rip roaring ride of speed, aggression and angst all wrapped up in their unique blend of stoner rock and punk. It's only February and the quality of albums this year is outstanding, this is yet another release we’ll all be talking about come December.
