Browsing Tag

Hard Rock

Skin 17 – The Heart That Will Not Start

Posted on 11 July 2021
Skin 17

The 90s-inspired alt-rock outfit Skin 17 started in Scotland and regenerated in Japan before finding a new base in London, where Andrew Cockburn found the home place of his sophomore album, Lighting your way by the bridges that you burn. The timely record takes inspiration from the likes of the Cure, NIN and Smashing Pumpkins, but leaves plenty of room for originality.

With snarled lyrics navigating lament and the even angstier guitars and percussion that could easily allow a pit to open it, the lead single, The Heart That Will Not Start allows pain to cohabit with anger in the fiery tumultuous release that carries hints of 70 punk alongside swathes of grungy nuance.

Instrumentally, you’ll find reminiscence to Disturbed, Driving Pool and Godsmack, while vocally, you can expect plenty of Social Distortion-style scathing yet vulnerable emotion.

Check out the latest album from Skin 17 by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Find Some Room To Breathe: The Damn Devils look decisively for that desired meeting place away from the muddy mess on ‘The Line’

Posted on 11 July 2021

After spending their time in the torch-lit dark with a haunting soundtrack that would spook so many on ‘Gravedigger‘, The Damn Devils return strongly with a potent new single that has you thinking introspectively on ‘The Line‘.

The Damn Devils are a tough-as-nails hard-rock band from the USA who have formed online due to this devastation-filled pandemic that has forced them to think outside the box. They forge together like real pros with a thumping sound that is full-paced and has your innocent speakers shuddering with unadulterated enjoyment.

With a roaring start that is full of riffs that has you suddenly sensing that complete invigorating lathering seeping all over your pulsating body and reaching your hungry veins, this is a storming song that is full of hope and a terrific mindset for the soul. The vocals are clear and so precise – as the band join in joyously with a vigorous effort – that is rather indestructible on our awaiting ears.

”The Damn Devils is a recording project featuring musicians from all over the US, who collaborated via the internet to create a hard-hitting rock album with a diverse sound.” – The Damn Devils

‘The Line‘ from the American online hard-rock recording project The Damn Devils, is that sick-of-suffocating track that has you feeling so inspired again. Brushing off the weird vibes is the only way to go, as you look for that free space that will help you see through the smoggy attitudes around, that are smoking out the world.

Having that inner peace to properly breathe and work out your next move, is surely the only way forward.

Stream this intense new single on Spotify and see more with the IG music page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Switch N’ Whisky play it fast and loud in ‘Keep it in the Red’.

Posted on 8 July 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7wdEahaKmo

Switch N’ Whisky don’t just make Rock n Roll; they live, breathe and effortlessly exude it in their latest single, Keep it in the Red. It’s slick with sunset strip sleaze and motifed with solos that make it impossible not to be in awe of the powerhouse outfit that first established in the fall of 2016.

Their contemporary take on rock n roll abstracts nothing traditionalists look for in a stellar fast and loud rock track but the high-fidelity production allows you to every virtuosically-placed instrumental note and feel every ounce of feverish rock n roll furore from the vocals.

Check out the official music video to Keep it in the Red that released on June 11th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Disorder – At the Door: Grunge has Never Hit Harder.

Posted on 7 July 2021

Stop wearing out your Deftones and Smashing Pumpkins records and hit play on the frenetically dark alt-rock hit, At the Door, London’s luminary outfit Disorder.

With mastering work by Alex Wharton (Pixies, The Beatles, My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai) at Abbey Road Studios and the mixing and co-production talent of Billy Bush (Garbage, Muse, Foster the People), you don’t need us to reassure you of the production quality.

But plenty of the ingenuity in At the Door comes via Disorder’s energetically confrontational presence in the alt-rock scene.

They offer the chaos of punk in a tumultuous soundscape blazoned with serious rock n roll stripes. The combination of heavy down-tuned guitars, synths and drum machines have redefined what rock and roll means in 2021. At the Door isn’t a revival but a reformation.

At the Door officially released on July 2nd; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Connect with Disorder via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cagri Raydemir takes us on with ‘Choosing Your Own Battles’

Posted on 17 June 2021

Opening up with a descending acoustic guitar line and some suitably doom-laden lead work, ‘Choosing Your Own Battles’ is taken from independent musician and producer Cagri Raydemir’s fourteenth (yes, fourteenth) record, and the second of two EPs, ‘Outlasting The Opposite Pole’; loosely alt-metal, there’s elements of System Of A Down to the guitar work and Raydemir’s vocal delivery, mixed in with dashes of prog and some bluesy flourishes. It’s unsettling, moody, and heavy without resorting to the sort of ‘everything louder than everything else’ distortion that lesser artists might use to imply ‘heaviness’, relying instead on a relatively clean guitar tone, vaguely ‘Eastern’-sounding scales (think Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ or some of Jerry Cantrell’s drop-D tuning-based work), and the power of the lyrics and subject matter to give it gravity and depth. And more power to it, that restraint and emphasis on phrasing and ‘grunt’ giving it a potency that would be lost with a more overdriven sound. It’s solid, powerful, and over far too quickly; a very tasty opener that gives a perfect introduction to the EP.

You can hear ‘Choosing Your Own Battles’, and the rest of the ‘Outlasting The Opposite Pole’ EP, on Spotify.

Review by Alex Holmes

Brand New Day: Calgary band Lÿnx look into the shaky mirror and ‘Shout Out Loud’

Posted on 31 May 2021

Formerly known as Lazer Blade and powered by Bullzhorn Records, Lÿnx used this horrific pandemic to reform, refocus and re-energize, and show us what they have been up to on ‘Shout Out Loud‘.

Lÿnx is a fiery Calgary, Canada-based 80’s-inspired hard-rock/glam-metal four-piece band formed by Lazer, Blade, Fangs and Flash. With a rip-roaring sound that is full of that old school fire and ferocious vocals, they make that rare sound that was ridiculously popular back in the day.

The sound is so rampaging and full of impressive energy – as they rip down the mic and shred the speakers off their hinges – they are full-on and smash in hard with a classic vibe throughout.

‘Shout Out Loud‘ from the uniquely inspiring Calgary, Canada-based glam-metal/hard-rock act Lÿnx, is the vivid story about trying your best to get through the day, as you need so much love from the stresses of life and nasty bills that need to be paid. This is that volume-raised-to-the-max track that needs to be heard on full, so you can get through your day and feel so much better for getting out the inner frustrations.

Stream this new single on Spotify and see more via IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Fastride are taking us all the way to ‘Sin City’

Posted on 17 May 2021

Fastride cut their teeth on the USA’s East Coast, playing clubs and bars like the Whiskey and the Viper Room alongside such luminaries of the rock scene as Black Star Riders, Jake E Lee, Hookers & Blow, and Michael Graves (The Misfits); formed around lead guitarist Ty Asoudegan, an alumnus of Berkelee College of Music who’s been featured in Guitar Player Magazine and name-checked by none other than Guns n’ Roses’ Slash, new single ‘Sin City’ is down and dirty, gritty, no-frills rock n’ roll. Hard-riffing straight from the off, this is proper LA screaming vocals, overdriven guitars, and thundering drums. There’s touches of ‘Slave To The Grind’-era Seb Bach to the vocals, the obligatory rip-snorting guitar break – all pinched harmonics and staccato muted flurries, trills, and hammer-on/pull-off runs – and a shouty, gang-vocal chorus. It’s the essence of 1980’s debauchery – sleazy, trashy, swathed in bandanas and black leather, and reeking of Marlboro and Jack’n’Cokes. Rock and very much roll.

Check out ‘Sin City’ on YouTube; Find Fastride on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Royal Incest would like to give us an ‘Invitation’

Posted on 2 May 2021

The first single from third album ‘Queen of Drama’ (due for release on 21st May 2021), German alternative five-piece Royal Incest bring us this delightful ‘Invitation’ to their ‘house of gold’, with its exquisite torture chamber of scissors, thumbscrews, and boiling oils. ‘Invitation’ bounces along on a hooky little riff, time changes and stop/starts just in the right places to catch you unawares and add to the sense of foreboding and discomfort. It’s kind of poppy-indie-feeling for the most part, but there’s some cute little ‘metal’ sections that sound a bit like Pantera or Rage, a nice wah-wah driven shredded solo, and some decent staccato drum-led parts, all of which segue nicely together into a mixture of punk, grunge, and indie-tinged rock. Founded in 1992 near Munster, ‘Queen of Drama’ is a fine return for Royal Incest; ‘Invitation’ is a great introduction to the new album, ably added to by the rather shiny official video.

You can see the video for ‘Invitation’ on YouTube. Check out Royal Incest on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Evandale – The Storm: Southern Sleazy Hard Rock

Posted on 23 April 2021

‘The Storm’ was the first single released from Evandale’s debut album, ‘All or Nothing’; it’s safe to say that the hard rock outfit went with the former option with this southern sleazy stormer.

Since forming in 2017, the Midwest powerhouse has opened for iconic acts such as Bowling for Soup, Soul Asylum, Dirty Honey, Wayland and Spin Doctors and won an Omaha Arts and Entertainment award for Best New Artist in 2019. With their enigmatic energy, technical ability and tendency to pack their tracks with enough visceral intensity that they could make the Richter scale quiver; the accolades are only going to get sweeter from here on out.

I can imagine, and hopefully, one day I will be able to discover that Evandale’s live sound delivers the same pit-opening arrestive adrenaline as Godsmack and Sevendust.

You can check out the official lyric video to the Storm via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

No More Misery: New Jersey metal band Strange Authority break confidently from the miserable depths to rise up on ‘Tear Me Apart’

Posted on 21 April 2021

Taken off their latest wildly riveting five-track EP called ‘Bright Side of Nothing‘, Strange Authority rips eagerly through your fragile speakers to give us all a vigorously powerful performance on ‘Tear Me Apart‘.

Strange Authority is a thrilling three-piece hard rock/metal band from New Jersey in the USA, who formulate that hard edged fiery performance that burns into your soul, as they rampage mightily with a stomping sound that will surely wake up your pesky neighbors.

Influenced by bands like Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold and Breaking Benjamin, you feel their rugged energy transmit a high-voltage frequency that lifts the lid on a boiling point for which society has reached, as they smash in your mind with reckless and exciting abandon.

This is about dealing with the lows, as you bring yourself up to never feel like that again despite what the circumstances had you feeling like. The misery must never return again — no matter what — as you look up to the positive light above the smog of the streets, that can treacherously hold you back forever.

‘Tear Me Apart‘ from the heavy New Jersey hard rockers Strange Authority, is a statement of intent from a band that have a strong core that lifts you up and takes you on a whirlwind of a ride, that will certainly encapsulate your senses awake again.

Stream this new single on Spotify and follow the band on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen