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Artist: Band: Nathan Wade and The Dark Pioneers
Album: The Gospel of Rust
Website: http://www.nathanwademusic.com
Genre: Americana rock
Sounds Like: Chris Whitley, Nick Cave
Technical Grade: 10/10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 10/1-
Overall Talent Level: 10/10
Best Songs: Rusty Blade, Cool Your Guns, This World (Already Over)
CD Review: The Gospel Of Rust is the latest CD from Seattle’s Nathan Wade and The Dark Pioneers. Apocalyptic lyrics framed by a raw, muscular musical chops make this CD worth a listen. The Dark Pioneers consists of Nathan Wade on vocals and a variety of guitars, Brian Alter on drums, percussion and vocals and Sam Collins on a variety of basses, some occasional keyboards, and vocals. They’re also joined on The Gospel of Rust by a variety of other players and the whole thing is masterfully produced by Brad Zeffren. The songs are written by Nathan Wade and arranged by the band and they bring it hard, amazing since some of the songs are mainly acoustic. Their brand of hard rocking Americana has an undeniable energy and pulse. One of my favorites is Rusty Blade with Patrick Porter on pedal steel and Nathan Spicer on the B-3. Cool Your Guns is another standout with lines like, “The morning comes to light the day while shadows crawl on spider legs. The crows all singing a killer’s song; did you finally learn the words to sing along?” This album has a hard edge that brings to mind artists like Charles Bukowski and Jim Jarmusch. It only gets better with repeated listening. The Gospel Of Rust is a strong release and should get some attention for the Dark Pioneers. If you like Americana with some bite, give it a listen.