(Stomp)

Nineties alt-metallers return

2003’s Collideøscope was the critically-acclaimed but commercially ignored comeback record for Living Colour, their first album since Stain some 10 years before. New record The Chair In The Doorway utilises new technology in pursuing the straight-ahead virtuosic metal pop craftsmanship of their groundbreaking 1988 debut Vivid. Once a noteable act for being a group of African-Americans specialising in heavy metal riffs and crunching rhythms, Living Colour maintained the rage of militant hip hoppers like Public Enemy and tossed in a generous dose of soul and R&B too. They do the same on the new album and while it doesn’t mark a great development in their sound, it is some of the most direct, least flabby music of their career. Jazz-schooled guitarist Vernon Reid’s trademark flashy solos are kept to a minimum, but the power quartet are still at their heaviest in the raging Out Of My Mind and at their bluesiest in hypnotic Not Tomorrow. Some of the campy humour that marked their 1993 track Bi is present in the disco metal of Young Man, complete with Ru Paul-esque stage directions ("Step to the right … two times") and the group makes effective use of sinister electronic sounds in the haunting Method. Cult Of Personality fans will have much to celebrate, with the soulful, direct hard rock of Burning Bridges and DecaDance. Amongst the increasing popularity of virtuosic progressive metallers (Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree etc), now’s as good as time as any to enjoy a new Living Colour record; not as elegant as some of the "smart rockers", but certainly more immediate and visceral.

***½

MATT THROWER