NWOCR newcomers Revenant are making big waves in the UK underground scene currently, and are set to capitalise on that in a big way with the release of their sophomore EP. We loved their last one, and have been highly anticipating this since it was first announced. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in, shall we?
The release instantly harkens back to the 80s with the awesome riffing to open ‘Public Service Announcement’. It’s a fantastic riff with some great drumming backing it up, and immediately starts things off on a fun foot. The vocals come in over the top and fit the rest of it perfectly. It all builds to the MASSIVE, catchy chorus that will immediately have you singing along. I love it dropping down after the second chorus to that chuggy riff, and then to follow that with a sick guitar solo was awesome! It’s a straight-forward hard rock song that feels both old-school and modernised, and was a fantastic choice to open the EP with! Starting off strong!
Next up is the massive recent single and title track to the EP. I’ve loved this song since the moment it came out, as has everyone else! Opening on that infectiously catchy chorus is a great idea, and it flows incredibly into the verse. The driving bass through it all is a massive highlight too, showing not only that the band are great at structuring songs, but whoever mixed this did an awesome job! And again, it drops down awesomely after the second chorus into some great soloing. The band handle their dynamics spectacularly well! It’s another well put together, straight-up foot-stomin’ rock song, and a huge highlight of the EP. It’s already been on our playlist for a bit!
‘Runaway Rage’ is another foot-stomping rock song with a little Southern edge to it this time, the slide guitars doing an awesome job and adding so much to the sound! As a big fan of the sub-genre I loved this, and it pulls so perfectly from plenty of the greats yet still feels distinctly Revenant. It’s bluesy, catchy, fun and technical all in equal measure, and it’s another massive highlight of the release! The solo in particular was awesome; *chefs kiss*. It’s a simple-structured track but something different-feeling out of the band to what we’ve had so far, and demonstrates their range pretty perfectly!
‘Least I Can Do’ is the ballad of the release, and a damn good one at that! The chord progressions to open it are beautiful, and it dropping down a little in the verses gave big Bon Jovi vibes in all the best ways! The lyrics are fantastically written, telling a great tale, and it all swells into another hugely catchy chorus, made to be played to arenas full of people. And was that a horn solo in the middle I heard, or simply a cool guitar tone? Either way it’s a great solo, and then to lead into the harmonised guitar one was incredible. Heck, it even goes VERY Slash by the end of it too, which is never a bad thing! And then a final chorus and outro take us home in style. It’s another excellent song, and a third in a row to make our Spotify!
Another slower track closes things out, the beautiful acoustic song ‘Miss You’. It’s again full of emotion in the lyrics and delivery, and they fit so well over the simple instrumentation. And we even get a great little acoustic guitar solo too, a nice touch. It gives off GnR Lies vibes (minute the racism of course), a sound and side of rock few rock bands touch on these days. It’s a really great acoustic rock song, and is a surprisingly perfect way to close out this EP!
Overall: This was awesome! Every song was just as good as the last, and I feel like they really built on everything they did so well on their debut. I loved their first EP too, but this one feels like a step up, really being on another level. I’m going to be listening to this a lot in the coming weeks and months, and I truly think this will be the release to push the band to an even bigger level than they’re already at. I can’t recommend this enough to any rock fan reading this, and it’s certainly going to be up there as one of my favourite EPs of the year!
The Score: 9/10