Just like the mighty and majestic bison, the Canadian band Bison B.C. crushes with their fuzzy doom-laden stoner rock riffs.

With a sound similar to Mastadon, Priestess and current tour mates High On Fire, Bison B.C. utilizes some of their speed and touches of thrash and punk on their third release, "Dark Ages." The band takes over from where they left off from 2008s "Quiet Earth" by creating some heavy tunes. There are seven epic tracks on "Dark Ages," with each one exceeding the 5-minute mark.

The riffs are heavy, the drumming is tight, the vocals are gruff and killer. There's dynamic tempo variation and good transition from the slow to the faster moments. There's a nice tonal guitar sound and the band displays enough melodic atmosphere to accompany the aggressive bludgeoning of their Sabbath/Mastodon riffs.

Opener "Stressed Elephant" starts out slow, but its speed and heaviness increases at the 2:24 mark, then ending with a twangy guitar bit. Indian tribal-like chants are introduced in "Fear Cave," and "Two-Day Booze," adding a nice flavor to the overall sound.

"Dark Ages" continues the theme of cannibalistic spiritual power from Native American legend on song "Wendigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn). It starts off with a melodic acoustic guitar which sets the mood before exploding into a feedback heavy groove that carries the song through.

Some of the songs are repetitious and seem to trudge along, but I suppose those are stoner/doom metal's characteristics. It's not a critique, just a fact. Overall, this is a great record and the band seems to have found their spot in the genre after only three albums.