Now we are featuring an underground favorite of team members, Australian rockers BUFFALO and their 1973 LP “Volcanic Rock“, in its excellent remastered CD reissue including 2 bonus tracks.
We assure you BUFFALO makes justice to their album title, this is Volcanic indeed!
This is a raw, proto-metal gem that helped shape the sound of 80s Metal and 90s Rock. With primal riffs and fearless energy, Buffalo laid the groundwork for the heaviness embraced by many successful bands in decades to come.
Born out from Aussie suburban pub culture, BUFFALO delivers big, crushing riffs, monster baritone vocals, and thundering rhythm section. The album was very well recorded and produced, hence this modern remastering obtains a top notch sound quality.
Classic Rock / Metal fans of the Seventies style need to hear “Volcanic Rock”.
Picture it: by 1973 the rock airwaves were dominated by Dark Side of the Moon, Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, and Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Rock was entering its teenage years, shedding its innocence for something darker, more primal, heavier.
Halfway around the world, Australia was a raw, untamed frontier where danger lurked in every shadow. Venomous creatures, desolate outback stretches, and a wild, unrelenting spirit shaped the people and their art.
It was there, in this harsh and unpredictable landscape, that Buffalo unleashed their sophomore album, ”Volcanic Rock”, on Vertigo Records. Like the searing sun, it scorched a path for heavy music, standing defiantly alongside its better-known contemporaries.
Buffalo was no Zeppelin or Sabbath knockoff. This Brisbane-to-Sydney transplant created their own blend of bluesy grit and proto-metal menace.
Formed initially as “Head,” their pivot to Buffalo was guided by a manager who believed that bands starting with “B” (Beatles, Beach Boys) were bound for success. A dart on a map landed on Buffalo, and thus began a name and sound etched in volcanic fury.
”Volcanic Rock” lived up to its name—primitive, thunderous, and unpredictable. With Dave Tice’s raw vocal delivery leading the charge, and guitarist John Baxter’s primal riffage painting sonic landscapes, the album combined blues-rock roots with a proto-doom intensity that felt otherworldly.
Songs like “Freedom” deliver nine-minute odysseys, meandering through psychedelic jam territory before crashing back into riff-laden crescendos.
Yet, the record wasn’t just music—it was spectacle. Its controversial cover art—a volcano shaped like a female torso spewing lava—reflected the wild creativity and raw edge of the band’s ethos. It was shocking then and remains iconic now, an image as bold as the sound within.
Despite their innovative sound, Buffalo never quite broke through. Opening for heavyweights like Black Sabbath and Rainbow, they faced the mischief of tour mates like Ritchie Blackmore, who infamously sabotaged their set. Still, they soldiered on, creating an album that influenced generations of metal troops—long before the labels existed.
But Buffalo’s story is also one of commercial failure and creative frustration. Pushed by their label to pivot toward radio-friendly fare, they resisted, choosing instead to blaze their own trail. By the time their final album, Average Rock ’n’ Roller, hit shelves in 1977, the band was running on fumes.
Yet, ”Volcanic Rock” remains their defining statement, a timeless blueprint for heavy rock adventurers.
So why revisit ”Volcanic Rock” in 2025? Because it’s an artifact of pure, unadulterated rock energy—a raw, imperfect gem that prefigures many sub-genres to come. Its primal simplicity, coupled with its audacious ambition, captures the essence of a time when rock was still dangerous.
Crank it to 11.
HIGHLY Recommended
01 – Sunrise (Come My Way)
02 – Freedom
03 – Till My Death
04 – The Prophet
05 – Intro: Pound Of Flesh
06 – Shylock
BONUS TRACKS:
07 – Sunrise (Come My Way) (Single Version)
08 – Shylock (Live Version)
Vocals – Dave Tice
Guitar – John Baxter
Bass Guitar – Peter Wells
Drums – Jimmy Economou
BUFFALO – Volcanic Rock ’73 [Remastered reissue +2 bonus] , MP3+FLAC
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