Band:	Monster Magnet
Album:	Last Patrol
Style:	Stoner metal
Release date:	October 14, 2013
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. I Live Behind The Clouds
02. Last Patrol
03. Three King Fishers
04. Paradise
05. Hallelujah
06. Mindless Ones
07. The Duke
08. End Of Time
09. Stay Tuned
10. Strobe Light Beatdown [limited edition bonus]
11. One Dead Moon [limited edition bonus]

Monster Magnet are a joyride through the cosmos. For over 20 years Dave Wyndorf and company have known what makes good fun stoner music good fun stoner music. With a combination of the band's various bluesy, psychedelic, and spacey sounds they've dabbled into over the years, their 2013 effort is a sort of compact summation of everything the band have done thus far, and both pays tribute to their origins while also transcending them.

What makes Last Patrol such an excellent release is that it covers all of Monster Magnet's bases, and has a strong "something for everyone" type feel. The band's early career started off highly psychedelic and space rock-ish, with the Tab EP and the first two albums, and then gradually moved into bluesy stoner territory with more of a hard rock edge to it. With Last Patrol, you're not going to be pushed too far into either direction. There are some melodic, relaxing tracks ( "I Live Behind The Clouds," "Stay Tuned," "One Dead Moon"), but also some groovier, more stoner-laden ones as well (the title track, "Mindless Ones," "The Duke"). If anything, this composition technique helps to make Last Patrol feel a lot more complete, and these many facets keep it from getting overly predictable.

Accompanying Last Patrol's clever blend of sounds is a careful attention to production details. The mixing is clear, crisp, and audible in all areas of the instrumentation. The bass, while a bit buried, can still for the most part be heard rumbling along with the riff-heavy guitar throughout, and when the guitars aren't carving their crunchy stoner edge, they maintain a very mellow, dreamlike type of tone. The entire atmosphere of the album has a very all-encompassing vibe, perfect for listening to with the accompaniment of some hippie lettuce. Ya know, if you're down towards that sort of foolishness.

Last Patrol is honestly more rock than metal oriented, but since the line between stoner rock and stoner metal can tend to be pretty thin, I'll dispense with the label wars and get to the nitty gritty. If you've been a fan of Monster Magnet up to this point, this album will be likely to only continue to wow you. If you're a n00b who's just hearing about the band now, and are a fan of groovy riffs with a spacey aesthetic, then hop on it my friend, because you won't regret it!