The Workhorse Movement - Sons of the Pioneers
Road Runner Records 
Rating
Road Runner records continues to bat a thousand with new artists. The Workhorse Movement is no exception. This Detroit outfit takes their motor city heritage seriously by blending hard hitting rock and the soulful urban sounds that have made their home town a Mecca for popular music for half a century. With "The Sons of Pioneers" the band creates a sound that is in sync with today's current hard rock meets the urban streets trend, but still stays true to their various influences. The album opens with an interesting spoken dialog that carries over into a funky hard rock fest with "Keep the Sabbath Dream Alive". With hard guitar rock riffs backed by a funky bass and drum track, this tune carries the listener with one of the finest fusions of the urban and hard rock sounds yet achieved.  Vocals hooks? There are plenty. The second track kicks into high gear with heavy riffs and rap like vocals in the tradition of Rage Against the Machine then the chorus breaks into a funk style that would make James Brown proud.  While many bands try in earnest to mix the seemingly incompatible urban sound with heavy metal, The Workhouse Movement succeeds where others have failed miserably. "The Sons of Pioneer" is one of those albums that marks a cornerstone for a music movement, innovative, creative, musically sound, and captivating. It has the potential to win over new converts to the rapcore sound, and lays out a fine example of how to mix the musical worlds of rap, funk and metal into a cohesive and appealing sound. 
 

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