The Budos Band - The Budos Band III

The Budos Band's third album is a 2010 slab of dark, heavy instrumental soul, and this pressing comes with a digital download card so the grooves can follow you out the door.

The Staten Island crew had already earned a fierce reputation on Daptone Records with their blend of Afro-soul, Ethiopian jazz and gritty funk. On The Budos Band III they push the sound into moodier territory, letting fuzzed-out guitar, deep organ and a punchy horn section build atmospheres that feel closer to a vintage thriller soundtrack than a dance party.

"Rite of the Ancients" opens with a menacing, slow-marching groove and horns that seem to rise out of the fog. "Black Venom" bites down hard with a coiled bassline and stabbing brass, while "Unbroken, Unshaven" rolls in with a cocky, loose-limbed swing. "Golden Dunes" stretches out into a hazy, desert-tinged trance.

The percussion is relentless throughout, with congas and drums locking together into a sound that feels both vintage and strangely heavy, as if a 1970s soul revue had wandered into a doom metal rehearsal and decided to stay.

Without a single word sung, this record says plenty. It's a dark horse treasure for any shelf that already holds Afrobeat, library funk or Daptone's finest, and it was built to be played loud and late at night.