Buffalo "Dead Forever" 1972***

For those who thought Australia's only contribution to hard rock was AC/DC I present...Buffalo! An unfairly overlooked band at the time, labeled after the fact "proto-metal" and often favourably compared to Black Sabbath. But although they can, and often do, play slow and heavy a la Sabbath, Buffalo were more diverse, with blues and progressive elements. A curious feature of this, their debut, was the presence of two lead vocalists, the bluesier Dave Tice and more high pitched-voiced Alan Milano (who was later to depart from the group). Who knows, maybe Blackmore was copying Buffalo when he casted in Deep Purple Mk.III two lead singers as different to each other as Coverdale and Hughes. The album opens with a Floydian dreamy section before plunging into hard rock territory with "Leader", its message being that politicians are untrustworthy and that the only leader worth following is yourself. "Suzie Sunshine" is boogie rock with bluesy slide guitar and "Pay My Dues" is a Blues Image cover. It starts off with spacey guitar effects and transforms halfway into a heavy blues somewhat reminiscent of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Free's "I'm A Mover" is a 10 minute jam sporting slow Sabbath-y riffs and a long experimental middle section. Great guitar work, but the real highlight of the song is the vocal interaction between the two singers, with Milano letting off screams to rival Judas Priest's Rob Halford. "Ballad of Irving Fink" and "Bean Stew" have a Southern Rock feel, reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steppenwolf (the latter). "Forest Rain" is a moody psychedelic ballad with a sturdy Tice vocal and the album reaches its climax with "Dead Forever", a metallic boogie every bit as heavy as anything produced by Black Sabbath in their prime. Alas, the only video available is truncated and only featuring one of the two singers (Tice). Nevertheless, it's good to have a visual...

**** for I'm A Mover, Forest Rain, Dead Forever

*** for Leader, Suzie Sunshine, Pay My Dues, Ballad Of Irving Fink, Bean Stew