Pledging fealty to Seventies proto-metal, German power trio Kadavar’s eponymous debut made for retro pleasure. Abra Kadavar, past its groan-inducing title, sounds more fired up and inspired, vibrating with barely-contained vigor. Sonics remain mired in the Me Decade, but the stomping “Doomsday Machine,” acid-addled “Liquid Dream,” and hellraising opener “Come Back Life” eat sparks and spit lightning. Closer “The Man I Shot” rolls all of Kadavar’s tricks into a ball of supremely badass rock & roll. ***.5

This article appears in August 2 • 2013.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.