The fact that I was even able to travel all the way to London for a
STUCK FUCKING MOJO concert in the year 2008 is nothing short of incredible. Their unique 90s-borne blend of hardcore/metal groove-riffage and aggressively upbeat rap vocals found the band tarred with the same brush as many inferior bands at the turn of the millennium, and the band collapsed under the pressure of the nu-metal backlash shortly after. Fans feared the band were lost forever. Fans feared that they had lost this great band forever.
They say that time heals all wounds, though, and with the stench of nu-metal finally lifting from the air the band did last year what many critics and long-time fans alike thought was the impossible by releasing a comeback album that simply
did not suck balls. With a newfound politically-charged intensity to their lyrics forcibly ramming their way into our eardrums on the back of possibly the heaviest and most crushing riffs that founder and guitarist Rich Ward has ever written, “Southern Born Killers” not only made many bold statements lyrically with its anti-terrorism slant, but also made a bold statement
musically by proving that combining hip-hop and heavy riffing could still produce a credible and relevant outcome.
As much as it may surprise many musical snobs out there that bands are still making music like this in 2008 - never mind doing it with such DEVASTATINGLY FUCKING AWESOME results - the real surprise for the band's dedicated fanbase came in the form of a 7’-plus giant by the name of Lord Nelson. Replacing the group's much-loved original frontman Bonz, Lord Nelson's deeper and more methodical vocal style proved to be the perfect fit for the reinvigorated Mojo sound on “Southern Born Killers”.
Proving yourself on CD is barely even half the battle when it comes to being a member of this band, however, as Stuck Mojo are a group that pride themselves on an energetic and powerful live performance to the point of being known to blow even one-time touring partners Pantera off the stage night after night back in the day. Lord Nelson may have the lyrical chops to put it down in the studio, but how could such an enormous frame ever hope to match the enthusiastic and hyperactive Bonz in terms of pure entertainment on-stage? And could Lord Nelson adapt his more laid-back, slightly less in-your-face rapping style in order to adequately pull off fan favourites from a back catalogue that runs almost a decade and a half deep?
As if an eight hour bus journey from Glasgow wasn‘t a long enough wait to find out the answer to these questions, I was met with the usual obstacle of support bands standing between me and my first taste of the re-vamped Stuck Mojo live experience. I was unable to drag my traveling partners away from killing brain cells in
the pub attached to the venue in time to catch openers
Tenside, but managed to haul ass into the Underworld just in time to see
Vengince take the stage.
And “take” the stage they did - quite literally owning it, possessing every square inch with their six-man assault. Not entirely my cup of tea musically - I'm not a huge fan of the odd chords and bizarre musical structures that the band often scatter throughout their otherwise brutal chunning and widdling - California‘s Vengince are such a talented and entertaining live act that I couldn't help but enjoy watching them anyway. The vocalist expertly commands the crowd with his likably-positive-but-instantly-commanding demeanour, the guitarists explode with energy with every rhythm chord and lead note that they play, and the keyboard player is just, in general, an absolute fucking mad skull. I‘m gonna be real with ya here; I
hate keyboard players in bands like this, I find they‘re usually pretty unnecessary, but this guy was just a straight dope individual and not only brought a lot of energy and personality to the stage but sometimes stood still long enough to twinkle the keys and add a sense of atmosphere that worked well.
By the time Vengince had left the Underworld stage smouldering in their wake, they had me completely forgetting what a terrible band name they had. And that‘s really saying something. Fans of modern experimental metal could do a hell of a lot worse than give these guys a chance.
Knowing that this was a “co-headlining” tour with Ektomorf, every Stuck Mojo fan‘s worst fear was confirmed when they took to the stage in the penultimate slot on the lineup. Not being the last band on generally means that Stuck Mojo probably didn't get as long a set as Ektomorf, and I did walk away from the show feeling that the set was a little slimmer than I was accustomed to from this band, but fuck it. The band chose their songs wisely, playing a nice selection from their “rich” (THAT'S THE NAME OF THE GUITARIST, GET IT? AH-HAH!) library of underrated crossover anthems and making the most of the time they did play, plus an earlier slot means less time waiting to finally find-out first-hand whether or not this new frontman could hang on a level that the Stuck Mojo faithful have become accustomed to over the years.
The result? Well, it's a resounding thumbs up from
this particular long-time hardcore Stuck Mojo fan, anyways! Although Lord Nelson predictably lacked the wild, childlike energy that Bonz brought to every show he performed at, his huge presence and confident swagger filled the room from the moment he took the mic in hand. Please note my use of the word “confident” here, and not “arrogance”. Constantly thrusting the microphone into the appreciative moshpit, constantly smiling and showing appreciation to the fans, Lord Nelson KNOWS he‘s good but by no means exhibits typical rock star (or rap star) behaviour. And why does he know he's good? Because he IS, bitch! Flowing from one line to the next flawlessly in each and every song, Lord Nelson delivers the slammin‘ new material just like he did on the CD and performed material from popular albums such as “Pigwalk” and “Rising” like they were always his own.
Never being known as a one-man show, in addition to charismatic vocalists Stuck Mojo is known for its tight musicianship and constant rocking out from all members at all times, with this show being no different. Guitarist Rich Ward hops, skips, jumps and headbangs his way through every jam without pausing to take a breath once - just watching this guy perform could probably give you an asthma attack. It would be criminal to not mention Rich Ward's songwriting and guitar playing virtuosity; an often overlooked and unfortunately underrated axeman, Ward can not only pull off traditional speed metal leads on par with any of the Dave Mustaines or Jeff Waterseseses of this world, but he also deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as guitarists such as Tom Morello or Page Hamilton for his understanding guitar tones and rhythm playing to the level where they becomes a true artform. Never missing a note live and just getting more and more skilled as the years go by, Rich Ward is a guitarist who is powerfully overlooked by the metal community and music world as a whole. People need to realise this guy is the shit, seriously.
So, with the band as on form - if not more so - than ever, only one more ingredient is required for a memorable Stuck Mojo show; a good crowd. A somewhat smaller sized venue, The Underworld does not have a crowd of thousands tonight but the audience it does have are rabid and in good spirits. Most of them fans since childhood, the people in attendance at this show are just glad that one of their favourite bands have returned to them and want to show their support by gettin' their groove on. The people mosh, sway, dance and sing along through all twelve songs of the night. The crowd are so loud and passionate in their vocal support during “Rising” that the band exclaim “you all are so good that you should be up here and WE should be watching YOU”... And that is exactly what happens! The crowd are invited to storm the barrierless stage to rock with the Mojo for the rest of the song, with fans standing arm in arm with each other and with the band members on the raised platform, singing along in high spirits. Ever humble and appreciative of the undying support, Rich Ward states at one point “
We as a band feel so honoured and grateful to you, the fans, that when we're done here we will go and wash your cars, mow your lawns and buy you all kebabs”. I ended up having to buy my own kebab at the end of the night, mind you, but I won't let that one white lie get in the way of an otherwise superb performance!
The night ended on a somewhat anti-climactic note as
Ektomorf brought things to a close. With a look very similar to early Soulfly and citing early Soulfly as an influence, this band fused the attitude of early Soulfly with a kind of “early Soulfly”-ish sound. Basically, everything about this band is heavily derivative of Max Cavalera‘s late-90s output, right down to the band merchandise with slogans like “FUCK THEM ALL” and “FUCK THIS SHIT” on the back of the shirts, and the between-song banter going on about “FUCK DE RAYSEESM”, “THEES SONG IS ABOUT WHAT YOU FEEL IN YOUR HEEEEEART”, etc. These guys are from Hungary but speak bizarrely like Brazilian guys who have been living in America for a few years. Basically, if you hated “Chaos AD” by Sepultura or Soulfly‘s self-titled album then you will hate Ektomorf, and if you liked those albums then... Well, there's still a strong chance you won‘t like Ektomorf anyway, because they are powerfully unoriginal and don‘t have anyone like an Igor Cavalera or even a Roy Mayorga bashing out their tribal drumbeats for them. Don‘t get me wrong, they have some very fucking hard-hitting riffs, but there‘s nothing new to be heard here. The music is decent enough if you like this kinda stuff - which I do - and they are a very enjoyable live metal band. Not every band needs to reinvent the wheel, obviously, but it‘s a little daunting to think that this band have got away with more or less seven albums of mostly just open chord palm muting. To summarise, I probably like this band better than Ill Nino.
An excellent night that could maybe have been made a little better with the swapping of Stuck Mojo and Ektomorf‘s set times, this won't be an issue if Stuck Mojo make good on their promises of a June 2008 return for some UK headline dates. If they roll into your town, or even a town anywhere within reasonable traveling distance, I recommend making the effort to go check out one of the best live acts in heavy rock today. If you missed them the first time they are around, this reunion is your opportunity to make up for it. Don‘t fuck up and miss out again.
Stuck Mojo website -
http://www.stuckmojo.us
Ektomorf website -
http://www.ektomorf.com
Vengince website -
http://www.vengince.com
Tenside website -
http://www.tenside-music.de
Stuck Mojo live photo courtesy of
g-senzafine.
![<!-- google_ad_section_start -->Stuck Mojo, Ektomorf, Vengince + Tenside - The Camden Underworld [13th March 2008]<!-- google_ad_section_end -->](/forums/geek/gars/images/1/0/9/6/5/thumb_Stuck%20Mojo%20-%20Lord%20Nelson.JPG)
Stuck Mojo, Ektomorf, Vengince + Tenside - The Camden Underworld [13th March 2008] 
Nah, joking, good call; I'm sure I meant to delete one of those sentences. Whoops! The band are great but I don't think any band on Earth deserves THAT much praise, haha. ALSO, I JUST PLAIN SUCK. 
