Single Slam – Fabuless by Stone Sour (Hydrograd)

Corey Taylor’s other band, Stone Sour, have released a new song called Fabuless. That’s not a misspelling, by the way. Fabuless comes from their new album Hydrograd which will be released via Roadrunner Records on the 30th of June.

Stone Sour are of course fronted by the ever vocal vocalist, Corey Taylor. Josh Rand and Christian Martucci play the guitars with Johny Chow on bass. Ray Mayorga is on the drums. Only Josh and Corey remain from the band’s original formation back in 2001.

Hydrograd is Stone Sour’s 6th studio album. A stat that surprised me. See I was a big fan of their debut album, Stone Sour. I didn’t mind most of Come What(ever) May but it was the next album that made me lose interest. I thought Audio Secrecy was dire and, because of that, I know very little of the next 2 albums. I have heard a few tracks but nothing that made me want to get back on the Stone Stour train.

That made listening to Fabuless quite a nice experience because I genuinely expected very little from it. A well sung, well played rock song maybe but little inspiration.

I was wrong, well, at least I wasn’t completely right. It is a well played, well sung rock song but it is also a really good and enjoyable listen. At 4 minutes long, Fabuless feels over in the blink of an eye, purely because it is a good, fun song to listen to.

The guitars have a nice meaty, sludgy sound and the drums sound loose and thrashy. That riff pays the intro with a gruff shout of “OH YEAH” coming through from Corey. A slower verse with Corey switching to a grunge singing style over a thick bass line sounds great. Just before the chorus, a bit more urgency comes into Corey’s vocals and a great bit of harmonising with backing vocals sounds excellent.

The prechorus explodes into life with the use of the familiar line “It’s only rock’n’roll but I like it, like it”. Big drums and a heavy slapped bass with Corey’s gruffer vocals build up to the full chorus which has a cool riff, is sung well in another one of Corey’s many vocal styles.

The second verse follows the same pattern but builds in urgency, lead by the vocals which get heavier – almost ending in Slipknot style. The chorus is really good – so catchy and the second one ends into a nice instrumental section with booming drums and a bass heavy riff. That leads into a nice but short solo before returning to the chorus which is extended and repeated through to the end.

You would have to be either a troll or completely anti Corey to not enjoy this song. It has a bit of an old school vibe. That is helped by the addition of The Rolling Stones line but Corey’s recognisable voice adds a modern touch. Musically it feels a little deep South – sludgy and grungy which I like a lot. It actually reminds me a bit of that debut album from so many years ago. Corey mixes his strong vocal range and styles up well – some may find that a bit confused but I liked it.

It isn’t the greatest song in the world. It isn’t going to change the scene forever. What it is though is a damn fine rock song from a band that I think I will need to reconnect with now. Well worth checking out.

Check it out for yourself here on the Stone Sour website. Why not preorder the new album too. Check out Stone Sour on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with new info and music as it is released.