Wild Wonderful Purgatory

Karma to Burn’s story exemplifies the common friction between indie bands and major labels. The group started as an instrumental hard rock trio before getting signed to Roadrunner Records. Even though Karma to Burn's fanbase had been cultured sans singer, the contract with the Warner subsidiary required the band to find a frontman. Friend Jay Jarosz was enlisted, but when Karma to Burn’s eponymous debut album failed to sell, the others fired him. Karma to Burn’s sophomore album, Wild Wonderful Purgatory, returns the West Virginia trio to its original vision, from the onslaught of the punchy riff-rocker “Twenty” to the more space-trucking closer “Eight.” William Mecum’s guitar provides the main melodies here. In the KISS-inspired “Twenty Eight,” he and an octane-boosted rhythm section chug along as though they were playing “Detroit Rock City” with Motörhead’s gear. The more raucous “Thirty” dials the distortion up a decade to approximate some of the better moments of Bay Area thrash metal. Mecum and company import Eastern melodies that (along with an unchanging rhythmic mantra) help make “Thirty One” a hypnotic standout.