Leadfoot - Take A Look (1999)

"Take a Look" is the second studio album by American rock band Leadfoot, released in 1999 on The Music Cartel.

The record cemented the former members of the cult doom band The Obsessed (vocalist Carl Snell and bassist Guy Pinhas) as masters of heavy groove. While their debut album, "Bring It On" (1997), was still struggling to find a balance between stoner and Southern rock, on "Take a Look," the band delivered a confident, cohesive, and commercially mature album, finally shedding the melancholic shadows of their doom-fueled past.

The album barely slows down, offering listeners a series of dense, action-packed tracks and mid-tempo pumping grooves. Tracks like the title track "Take a Look," the hurricane-like "Soul Full of Sadness," and the powerful "The Swinger" stand out. The band skillfully alternates straightforward, head-on hard rock with viscous, psychedelic stoner passages, preventing the album from becoming monotonous.

"Take a Look" is a benchmark example of "heavy Southern rock" from the late '90s. The album perfectly balances the traditions of the American South with the density of the desert stoner scene. A true hidden gem for those who appreciate fat guitar sound, blues roots, and uncompromising drive.