Judging by album The Gospel Of Rust, Nathan Wade & The Dark Pioneers are mighty fine purveyors of apocalyptic, twisted Americana, honing their rootsy, fire & brimstone-laden tunes deep inside an abandoned fall-out shelter.

Sometimes, you have to consider the worst-case-scenario to fully appreciate all there is to lose in this world, and whether it’s religious rapture or environmental disaster that Nathan Wade’s lyrics foretell, it’s with dark humor and a strong sense of song craft that the band elevates their music above the doom and gloom and into the light.

With influences from Nick Cave to Cormac McCarthy to Led Zeppelin it is no surprise to find the album filled to the treacherous brim with lacerating blues pounders like Lake Of Fire and I Am The Rust, the cinematic country-noir of This World (Already Over), and driving, doomsday rockers like Golgotha Drone.

This is how they describe our taster track, “Lake Of Fire was partly inspired by the R.L. Burnside/Jon Spencer Blues Explosion collaboration A Ass Pocket Of Whiskey and the Charles Manson’s Live At San Quentin album–so it was destined to be odd. Skewing it even further down the weirdo hole, Lincoln’s crazed licks sound like something Zoot Horn Rollo would have played on a Captain Beefheart album (with a nod to Soul Man).”

Well worth a listen wouldn’t you say…

Visit their website here.

Download the album from eMusic here. Buy the CD from cdbaby here.

Download Nathan Wade & The Dark Pioneers – Lake Of Fire mp3 (from The Gospel Of Rust)