2012's saw the Lone Star State retro-metal spell-casters offering up another meaty, cosmos-minded set of mid-'70s Birmingham, England-blasted worship, which would have been great had they not done nearly the same thing on their three prior outings. , the band's fifth and most compelling long player to date, is another beast altogether. While it shares its predecessors' penchant for pairing thick -style stoner metal with vintage, tube-driven classic rock, it owes more to bands like , -era , and even fellow shape-shifting Texans than it does the dark wizardry of , and . What's so immediately striking about is how much fun it is. By eschewing some of the groups' heavier doom metal tendencies for a more streamlined, almost singles-based (if it were 40-odd years ago) approach, the have managed to not just update their willfully outdated sound, but reinvigorate themselves in the process. To be fair, they haven't completely abandoned their sludgy, fantasy metal past, and psych-tinged boogie/space rock is hardly a contemporary concoction, but there's a vitality to standout cuts like "Empty Temples," "Mist and Shadow," and the brooding, vibraslap-heavy title track that transcends their nostalgic trappings. As veterans of the scene, it's their right to bring the stoner/doom genre back to its roots, and while doesn't always work, it's constantly working toward moving the band forward, which means that were probably only a few albums away from a hair metal makeover. ~ James Christopher Monger