*** Masters of Reality

HOW HIGH THE MOON

(Malicious Vinyl)

Masters of Reality test just how much wailing guitar overdrive a pop song can withstand on this live disc culled from a two-night stay at the infamous Viper Room. The Masters sound has always been about drawing on the spirit of their days as dope-smoking teenagers in 1970s, when heaping spoonfuls of Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper were inevitably ingested. In the studio, they gravitated to the point where heavy-metal jams intersect pop craftsmanship (i.e., Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and Black Sabbath's Sabotage). But live, whether in the Zeppelinesque "The Blue Garden" or the Ginger Baker-inspired "Ants in the Kitchen," pop nuances are eclipsed by the band's willingness to let monster riffs dominate. Which is par for the course for a group led by guitarist Chris Goss, a guy whose other gigs have included producing sessions for Kyuss.

-- Justin Farrar