Bandcamp Ten years is a long time to keep a band waiting on the runway. Truckfighters have been a touchstone of European fuzz since the mid-2000s, the Örebro duo of Oskar “Ozo” Cedermalm and Niklas “Dango” Källgren more or less synonymous with the airborne, Kyuss-descended desert rock the continent does so well. Masterflow, their first full-length since 2016’s V, arrives with a knowing wink on the cover, a parody advertising can of some miracle solvent promising “balance between discipline and freedom.” It is a good joke, and a decent thesis for a comeback record that turns out to be less about reliving the fuzz and more about stretching it into moodier, more atmospheric shapes.
Anyone expecting a straight nostalgia trip may need a track or two to adjust. This is a bigger, darker, more dynamic Truckfighters than the one that made Gravity X, leaning on clean and baritone vocals, spacious effect-laden passages, and the odd electronic flourish threaded through the fuzz. When it works, it really works. The title track is the clearest proof, a transparent, genuinely dynamic piece that skips the loudness-war flattening entirely and lets the riffs stay legible through every shift; “Truce” pulls off the record’s best trick, a controlled low end that never turns to mush even as the wall goes up; “Bad Horse” rides a deep, well-seated baritone through airy verses into a chorus that swells without smearing; and “Goin’ Home” closes on a warm, organic, almost retro swing that keeps its dynamics fully intact. These are the moments where the decade away feels like patience rather than absence.
The frustration is that the mastering doesn’t hold that standard across the board. Where the strong tracks breathe, others are pushed hot enough to bite back. “Old Big Eye” opens the album with a brittle, sibilant sheen in the high mids that tires the ear early, “The Gorgon” flattens into a one-dimensional wall with the kick losing its punch to a dominant low-mid bass, and “Gath” stacks its guitars and bass around 250 Hz until the definition blurs. It is the recurring cost of a record that chases density: when the band trust the space, everything sings, and when they chase volume, the mix pays for it.
Still, Masterflow is a welcome, genuinely engaged return rather than a legacy lap. The songwriting is sharp, the ambition to grow past the fuzz-desert template is real and mostly earned, and at least half the record sounds terrific. A more consistent hand at the mastering stage would have lifted it a full notch. As it stands, it is a solid, characterful comeback that rewards the wait for anyone willing to take the harsher edges with the highlights, and proof that Truckfighters still have new places to point the fuzz.
Fuzz-descended stoner and desert rock pushed into moodier, more atmospheric and dynamic territory, with clean and baritone vocals and the occasional electronic touch. The best of it breathes: the title track “Masterflow” is transparent and genuinely dynamic, skipping the loudness-war flattening and keeping the riffs legible, “Truce” holds a controlled low end that never mushes even at full density, “Bad Horse” seats a deep baritone through airy verses into a swelling chorus, and “Goin’ Home” closes warm and organic with its dynamics intact. The unevenness is in the mastering: “Old Big Eye” opens with a brittle, sibilant high-mid sheen, “The Gorgon” flattens into a one-dimensional wall with the kick losing punch to a dominant bass, and “Gath” stacks guitars and bass around 250 Hz until definition blurs. Sharp songwriting and real ambition to grow past the fuzz template, held back by a mastering job that bites when the density climbs.
Standout tracks: Masterflow, Truce, Bad Horse
