Band:	Fu Manchu
Album:	The Return Of Tomorrow
Style:	Alternative metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	June 2024

01. Dehumanize
02. Loch Ness Wrecking Machine
03. Hands Of The Zodiac
04. Haze The Hides
05. Roads Of The Lowly
06. (Time Is) Pulling You Under
07. Destroyin' Light
08. Lifetime Waiting
09. Solar Baptized
10. What I Need
11. The Return Of Tomorrow
12. Liquify
13. High Tide

With The Return Of Tomorrow, Fu Manchu sound as if they're already a step ahead. So does this mean they know exactly what you want from this album?

Fu Manchu is an American stoner metal/rock band widely considered to be one of the main contributors to the Palm Desert Scene, alongside the likes of Kyuss and subsequently Queens Of The Stone Age. Although the band formed back in 1985, it wasn't until nearly a decade later that they would unleash their full-length debut No One Rides For Free, yet since then have gone on to make a real name for themselves in the stoner scene. Now, 30 years following that debut, the band present their 13th album to date The Return Of Tomorrow, with a line-up that's remained intact since 2002 consisting Scott Hill (vocals/guitar), Bob Balch (lead guitar), Brad Davis (bass), and Scott Reeder (drums). How does this latest instalment stack up with the rest of their discography?

For a start, the album is quite long at 50 minutes in length; you might expect a whopping total of 13 tracks to contain at least a few fillers here and there, but the consistency in quality here is actually quite remarkable, particularly considering that the band has been around for such a long period of time in a genre that's often accused of becoming increasingly predictable and stale. A short, fun, catchy track titled "Dehumanize" gets the album off to a positively energetic start, with groovy stoner-fuzzed riffs, exciting leads, and a cool catchy chorus, driven by an uncontrollable head-nodding rhythm. This approach is continued into the following track, "Loch Ness Wrecking Machine", which I find equally enjoyable. Third track in, "Hands Of The Zodiac", is one of the album's many highlights, due to its super-catchy chorus, ultra-stylistic drumming, and trippy distorted wailing solo.

So, 3 tracks in and all looks positive, especially for long-time stoner rock/metal fans, even though at this point there's no real surprise elements. However, "Haze The Hides" then takes a momentarily easy break on the breakneck rhythm and upbeat tempo, offering a more down-toned, mid-tempo classic doomy approach, with a Black Sabbath/Master Of Reality-style heavy, slogging, mid-tempo doomy riff serving as the centrepiece. "Roads Of The Lowly" then continues on the same path, except the tempo is slightly turned up a notch at the beginning stages; that's before the tone gets even deeper, the riff gets heavier, and the tempo once again slower. Being placed at the midway point at just over 2 minutes in length, you might expect "(Time Is) Pulling You Under" to act as an interlude, but this is by no means an interlude and not necessarily a filler either, especially when highlighting those memorable wailing shredding leads.

I suspect most will be satisfied at what they've heard upon reaching the halfway point, and as you would've gathered by now it's not exactly reinventing the wheel, but the evidence as to why this band is held in such high regard across the stoner category is made evidently clear at this point. Going forwards, some of the best moments on the album are yet to come, firstly "Solar Baptized"; this, simply put, is a satisfying bluesy hard rock classic with a twist of stoner, nothing like what you've heard up to now. The main riff melody for a start is clearly reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the tasty bluesy solo and deep bluesy vocal style are also a real treat. Secondly is argue the main highlight of the album, "What I Need", which is among the band's best written songs to date, I might add. It's a trippy psychedelic journey, but the deliciously melodic latter stages of the song are when things become mind-blowing.

Fu Manchu is a name many stoner rock fans would've likely stumbled across, if not for the memorable band name, then surely for the fact they've remained a top band in the genre for nearly 40 years. The Return Of Tomorrow is evidence that the band have no intention of backing down from the ever-growing stoner scene that they helped establish just yet.