THOR
Thor Against The World (Smog Veil)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

---

The Vancouver body builder is still at it. Despite striking one of the most frightening poses in rock and roll history, Jon Mikl Thor never managed to garner anything more than a cult following, probably because his music is neither original nor particularly interesting. Sometimes, though, Thor hits the mark with his hard glam, especially when he strips it (instead of himself) down to a few bare elements and lets it rock, as he does on "Long Time." Instead of the over-crowded soundstage you hear on much of Thor Against The World, "Long Time" turns on a simple bass, drums and guitar riff with plenty of air in between, and Thor takes the vocal in a punk direction with surprising passion and success. The next track, "Megaton Man," finds him right back in a glam landscape even Kiss would avoid, which is probably what makes Thor cool to his following. Since that's what most of this album is like, I guess the real headline should read "Thor Rides Again." For my money, it's an expensive single, but yeah, I get it.

© 2005 - DJ Johnson