Audrey Horne may take their name from a character in Twin Peaks, but they have none of that show’s brain-melting weirdness. The Norwegians’ sixth album is more Vintage TV than David Lynch: a square-peg-in-a-square hole mix of retro riffs, duelling guitars and levels of cowbell that must surely exceed responsible limits.
That’s not to say Blackout isn’t without its charms. This Is War, Light Your Way and the title track pummel along like someone has shoved a tube of paper up the band’s arse and set fire to it.
The same can’t be said of the sensitive-biker-dude plod This Man, which puts its fingers in its belt loops in the first few seconds and resolutely refuses to take them out – something not helped by singer Torkjell Rød’s bland bellow.
Audrey Horne’s line-up is drawn from the likes of progmetal behemoths Enslaved and stoner-rock upstarts Sahg, and there’s the strong whiff of ‘hobby project’ from people too young to remember it first time around. The result is nothing you haven’t heard before, and certainly nothing to give David Lynch nightmares.
