Almost Heathen

Compared to many of its peers and labelmates, the Morgantown, W.V., power trio Karma to Burn takes a less obvious approach to reviving old-school hard rock. After the departure of singer Jay Jarosz, the band forged ahead for its second LP, Wild Wonderful Purgatory, without him. Its third studio album, Almost Heathen, finds Karma to Burn sounding noticeably more confident and comfortable as an instrumental outfit. The opening song, “Nineteen,” kicks over like an old motorcycle engine with a rumbling rhythm section before William Mecum’s searing-hot guitar leads come in with Deep Purple–inspired leads, Sabbathesque sludge, and melodic parts that no singer could possibly approximate. The following “Thirty Eight” dials back the fretboard dexterity for a beefy rack of marinated riffs, this time creating the melodic lines in distorted, overdriven harmonics. More intricate guitar work introduces “Thirty Four”; yet when bass and drums come hammering down, Mecum brings his six-string thunder in the form of Kyuss-flavored power chords that sound blasted through walls of Marshall amps cranked to 11. “Forty” closes with hard and heavy grooves.