Tag Archives: new music

Leave a Scar: is the Twisted Sister frontman writing some of the best music of his career?

1st August 2021 Overtone

Dee Snider is a man who should need no introduction. From fronting one of the biggest rock bands of the 80s to famously fighting against the censorship of music, he has done a lot in the public eye in the past. However, since his original band started winding down and then called it a day over the last five years or so, he has gone on to release music under his own name… and it’s HEAVY. Not once did I expect the ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ singer to release an almost thrash album, but 2018’s ‘For the Love of Metal’ was practically that. His latest work, ‘Leave a Scar’, was released last week and is his third solo album. I have always been a huge fan of the man and his solo music, and he is still incredible live too, so I have been excited for this one for weeks!

‘I Gotta Rock (Again)’ immediately starts the heaviness off with a couple of huge guitar riffs, backed by cymbal-heavy drums and an awesome opening call from Dee. The awesome riffs continue through the verse and Dee’s vocals sound as pitch-perfect and powerful as ever; the man seems ageless. The chorus kicks in fast and hard and it’s catchy as hell, the chanted backing vocals helping it out a lot. The duelling solos are also both fantastic – fast, technical and perfectly fitting with the tone of the song. If there was ever a modern song that needed to be on a Guitar Hero game, it’s this one. The slowed-down chorus after was a nice touch before a massive final one takes us home. An amazing opener and one that easily made the playlist!

The insane riffs continue through the start of ‘All or Nothing More’, this feeling more like a Testament album than something that came from anyone who was in Twisted Sister. It quickly reaches another catchy chorus, this one feeling a little more like a modern metal style like it was ripped straight from a metalcore song. The breakdown riff after the second chorus was good, even if it did remind me a little too much of the main riff from the last album’s title track. The solos were again great and led into another great double chorus to finish things off, this time with the surprising inclusion of some screaming from the backing vocals. Another strong song!

‘Down But Never Out’ launches straight into what I assume are the chorus vocals over the top of yet another great riff. They stop and we get a brief but great solo before the verse vocals kick in. They’re fast and powerful, including more chanting backing vocals. It was a little hard to distinguish between the verse and chorus with this one though, as the riffs are pretty similar and so is the vocal delivery. Another little breakdown is followed by another great solo and another pre before we get a fantastic extended outro breakdown. It was heavy, stomping and very enjoyable just like the whole song.

‘Before I Go’ gives off slightly lighter, more AOR vibes, despite its still blistering speed. It’s still damn good though, the chorus maybe being the best of the album. It reminds me of another big name in the 80s’ solo project, Sixx AM. The slower, lighter pace really helps, making it stand out from the other tracks so far. It follows the same format as the other songs, a short bridge/breakdown part before a briefer guitar solo this time around. There’s a nice little bit of clean guitar afterwards, but it did feel a little out of place in the track. We then get a final, Maiden-esque chorus to end on.

While ‘Open Season’ does feel a little more of the same at this point, this track showcases the production quality of the album – especially with the drums. Every bass hit was crisp, clear, and powerful, adding so much to the track.

I had similar feelings about the following track, ‘Silent Battles’. It’s a steadier song, but still had a lot of the same feeling as the previous songs. I thought ‘Crying for your Life’ would be different as it started slower, mainly focusing on the clean guitar chord progression and vocals. It does pick up the pace and distortion about a minute into it, but it still feels different enough to hold my attention. It’s more of a groove metal track than thrash like the others and there are various different parts that were awesome and catchy, not just vocally but including the guitar riffs too. It was a very enjoyable track and another that makes the playlist easily!

Both ‘In for the Kill’ and ‘Time to Choose’ go back to their more thrash-oriented style. Both are great songs in their own right, but it’s a lot of the same on one album and that makes it hard to review without repeating myself. The only bonus is the version of ‘Time to Choose’ below also has Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse, which automatically makes it 100000x more metal.

‘S.H.E.’ is still pretty similar, but for some reason it caught my attention a little more than some of the others. It was damn catchy, especially in the chorus, and the stomping pace through the verse was infectious and something I would LOVE to see live. ‘The Reckoning’ again stood out mainly for the drums, the double bass work in the opening riff/chorus being mighty impressive and sounds MASSIVE. However, outside of that, it is just more awesome, samey heavy metal.

The final track on the album, ‘Stand’ is the slowest song on the album. While I usually have an issue with the ballad of the album being the final song, leaving the album on a whimper instead of a bang, this track was at least heavy enough to carry itself to an epic finish. The clean guitars are beautiful behind Dee’s vocals, and the choruses sound huge when the distorted guitar chords come in over the top. The lyrics for this track are also the best on the album, a great call to arms full of positive reinforcement. It did feel like it maybe needed some long and powerful notes at the end to drive it home. Instead, it does kind of fade out, but as a whole the song worked pretty well.

Overall: This was another fantastic album from a man who for all intents and purposes “shouldn’t” be pumping out this sort of quality and heaviness in his mid-late 60s. The man defies all expectations again and again and also has one of the best backing bands around today. The whole album is filled with huge riffs, catchy vocal lines and honestly, there isn’t a bad song on it. He’s hit it out of the park again.

Score: 8.5/10

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Reviews

This is NWOCR: a showcase of the best British new wave of classic rock scene

28th July 2021 Overtone

A term coined back in 2017 for the resurgence of a classic sound brought about by the likes of Inglorious and The Dead Daisies, the New Wave of Classic Rock has gone from strength to strength since and has found itself at the forefront of the underground scene over the past couple of years. That has in large part been down to the fantastic efforts of a lot of people behind the scenes, helping promote the bands and form a real community around the sub-genre. It has led to this, a 42-track collection of some of the best the genre has to offer. I for one am familiar with a good few of the bands contained on it and I’m a big fan so I’m excited to get the chance to review them.

To put it simply, it’s 42 smaller bands getting some much-needed exposure, and I could not be happier to listen to it and help by both buying and reviewing it. This may be a long one – who’s ready?

Massive Wagons start us off with their 2015 hit, ‘Tokyo’. It’s a fantastic track that perfectly encapsulates the genre. It’s a middle-paced stomper full of 70’s inspired riffs, soaring, powerful vocals, and a massive (pun intended), catchy chorus. It wouldn’t feel out of place on a Rainbow or even AC/DC chorus with that sort of vibe – a real stadium-filler of a song and a big reason as to why the band is one of the biggest up-and-coming British artists around.

Next up is Mason Hill. I’ve listened to their debut album before and I have to admit that while I didn’t enjoy every single song, ‘DNA’ was one of the standout tracks on it. The main riff alone is a massive positive, quick, driving, heavy guitar pairing fantastically with the slower drums. The backing vocals and harmonies are also on point throughout, be it in the pre-chorus or chorus which both feature different layers and styles in each part. Another great track from such a young band.

Hollowstar‘s biggest track ‘All I Gotta Say’ starts off slower than the other two, having a beautiful clean chord progression for the first verse before another amazing, heavy guitar riff cuts through it and launches the song into a faster pace. The verses stay slower but the real highlight is the heavier choruses, blasting out with huge power chords and catchy vocals from Joe Bonson. Three for three with amazing tracks so far.

These Wicked Rivers give us a bit more of a scrappier track more reminiscent of Rival Sons and older bands like Rolling Stones than the more polished and produced tracks we’ve had so far. That doesn’t take away from the quality at all though. The riff is again awesome; it is lighter and higher than the others and the chorus is maybe one of the catchiest of the album.

We finally reach a band I haven’t heard of – Anchor Lane with their track ‘Fame Shame’. The band definitely fits into the NWOCR sub-genre but I hear just a little Soundgarden in here too – there’s some of that faster, heavy grunge vibe to it. I have to admit, I’m a fan. The breakdown was pretty great too and the chorus was just as catchy as some of the others on the album. The band has found a new fan in me!

Empyre gives us another middle-paced track, filled with palm-muted guitars and low drums that contrast nicely with the powerful, awesome vocals. The chorus is a great riff but, outside of that, it doesn’t take off any, staying at the steady, low pace. The guitar solo in the middle is fantastic though and the vocals almost remind me of Peter Steele’s at times. A good track and the slowest so far.

Daxx And Roxane are a band I have been recommended a couple of times before but just haven’t had the chance to check out. I’m so glad that this changed today as ‘Without You’ is an awesome track. Channelling some real Poison vibes with this track but modernising it for the current scene is awesome. The riff is infectious, making me bob my head throughout, and the vocals are powerful: soaring and catchy. They have a new fan in me and I can’t wait to hopefully catch them on the festival circuit next year!

Sons of Liberty are one of the surprising number of bands on this album that I first heard at HRH a couple of years ago and have been a fan of them ever since. ‘Fire and Gasoline’ is a great AC/DC style chugging rock song, incorporating both the catchy soaring vocals and the lower, almost power-metal-esque style through the verses. Its catchy, infectious chorus hook is enough to push it into our playlist alone but the rest of the song is awesome too.

Tequila Mockingbyrd and Cult Classics alumni united to form The Hot Damn! at the back end of last year and launched their debut single at the start of the month ready for this release. I was a big fan of the two separate bands that the frontwomen were part of and I have purposely been holding out on listening to the track so that I could review it properly with this album. ‘Dance Around’ is a great track that feels punkier than the rest of the songs so far. It feels like it was inspired by early Wildhearts in the best way – catchy, light and bouncy throughout. Gill Montgomery’s vocals fit perfectly over the instrumentation and the harmonies throughout the chorus work so well. Another fantastic new band!

Everyday Heroes give us another bluesy stomper of a track. It’s mid-paced and good but I’m sad to say it fades into the background a tad after so many phenomenal tracks before it. The harmonies were nice though, as was the solo. I kind of felt the same about the next track, Elles Bailey‘s ‘Woman Like Me’. It was definitely different from the previous tracks on the album but it didn’t fit as much into the sub-genre as the others. It felt closest to The Doors to me, a band that I wouldn’t necessarily class as classic rock. It was a good song and a well-needed change of pace in a solely hard rock album, but there wasn’t too much to it. It was a nice chilled-out song though and the solo in the middle was great!

Scarlet Rebels pick the pace back up with a great riff and some awesome pinch harmonics to open ‘No One Else to Blame’. I actually can’t get enough of the riff; it is the highlight of the song for me, though the chorus is pretty decent too! Meanwhile, Wolf Jaw offer up their own brand of slower blues-rock to the mix. Lead by the funky bassline and simple drumbeat, Tom Leighton’s vocals fitting perfectly over the top of them. It picks up perfectly into the chorus too, the guitars adding some great layers into it and pushing the vocals up higher. Another fantastic track!

Tomorrow Is Lost’s production is second to none on this album; the quality when the instruments explode over the top of the bassline sounds MASSIVE. It only adds to the epicness of the track as it builds perfectly from the verse through to the amazing chorus. I haven’t heard the song before as I hadn’t even heard of the band but damn, it’s one of my favourite tracks on the album. Even the awesome distorted vocals that kind of acted like the solo was awesome and such a unique take on the conventional rock style that I couldn’t not love it. An awesome track and I shall definitely be listening to more from the band!

Riff machines Dead Man’s Whiskey bring the power and attitude with ‘War Machine’. The vocals are good but the instrumentation for me is the real highlight of the track. The riff is just so infectious that even the awesome call and response backing vocals through the chorus could beat it. Meanwhile, Dig Lazarus channels similar vibes to The Hot Damn! with a great punk rock track. It’s driving from start to finish and simple yet pretty effective. However, I do feel like it would get a tad lost in the shuffle among the other incredible tracks on the collection.

Next is a band that I need no introduction to as they have been one of my favourite bands of the last few years, The New Roses. Because of this, I shall spare my relentless gushing over the band that I have done to my friends and over social media and instead I urge everyone reading this to CHECK THEM OUT. The track on this album, ‘Whiskey Nightmare’, is a great starting point. So, what are you waiting for? Go check out your new favourite band already!

Shape of Water (not the fish porn movie) is another song that feels like it revolves around an awesome riff. The vocals work well over the top, giving off a massive sludgy/bluesy vibe to the whole thing – almost like a stoner rock song like Kyuss or Masters of Reality. It was another welcome change of pace on an album that has a lot of similar music, making me like this song a lot as a result!

Häxan sounds good but their track feels as much lost in the shuffle as a couple of the others, there isn’t much special about it that hasn’t already been done. The same can be said about the final two tracks of the first disc from Rival Black and Gin Annie. Both are good songs in their own right but offer little in the way of variety.

It isn’t until disc two begins with the always fantastic Phil Cambell and the Bastard Sons that the album truly gets back to form. The man from Motorhead has been firing on all cylinders during his current solo project and releasing arguably some of the best music of his career, and ‘Son of a Gun’ is no exception. A great hard rock song and another highlight of the collection.

The Dust Coda’s ‘When The Tide Comes in’ has a catchy as anything opening vocal hook, especially when the rest of the band come im. It’s the highlight of the song, the rest not quite as fun. Unfortunately Skam, another band I am usually a fan of, fade a little into the background with the sheer quality on display throughout these two discs.

Collateral offers a fresh change of pace, this time going for a Bon Jovi ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ style with ‘Merry Go Round’. It’s an enjoyable, acoustic lead song, filled with catchy vocal hooks, huge choruses and awesome backing vocals. It’s the ballad this album needed and is definitely a good one. Another band I haven’t heard enough of!

Bad Touch provides the most controversial track on the album for me. I used to gig with them a lot back in the day and, as good as this song is, I have to admit I prefer their older stuff. I don’t know what the difference between ‘I Get High’ and something like ‘Wise Water’ is and maybe it’s simply nostalgia.

Massive was one of the few to record a new song ready for this release. We covered their latest single ‘Rise’ when it first came out so check that out!

The next few tracks from bands like Gorilla Riot and Thundermother all felt a little samey at this point, something that is unfortunately going to happen with so many songs from the same sub-genre. The next one that kind of caught my ear was Rews with ‘Today We’re Warriors’, and that’s mainly because it sounds pretty similar to something Dorothy would release. It’s more pop-rock leaning and another nice and appreciated change of pace on this LONG album.

Twister gives us a good track that somehow blends glam and punk seamlessly, and Bootyard Bandits bring their own fantastic brand of comedy and country-rock to the proceedings. Doomsday Outlaw gives off some great country/blues vibes too and Ashen Reach shows off their impressive AOR sound and style, almost metal in its execution.

Ryders Creed got me excited for a second as their guitar tone was pretty reminiscent of early Nickelback (to a point where the riff seems almost a straight rip of ‘Hangnail’) but when the vocals kicked in it became a lot lighter and radio-bait-y. It’s not bad but I had never really understood the hype around this band to begin with, so it would have taken a lot to convince me.

The final track saved the same-ness of the second disk for me with Blackwater Conspiracy’s ‘Soul Revolutionaries’. It gave off almost Rod Stewart vibes at times, being a lighter, poppier rock song but it was done so well and enjoyably that it became one of my favourite tracks of the album. The driving guitars, subtle piano, and soaring vocals were all massive highlights and drew me back to a band I haven’t listened to enough of recently. An awesome way to close an album!

Overall: I have to admit right out of the gate that 42 tracks/bands took a lot to listen to in one session. However, the sheer ambition of this album has to be applauded and being able to showcase so many smaller, incredible bands on a release such as this is amazing. There were a lot of awesome tracks on the album from bands that deserve to be a lot bigger than they are and hopefully this will give them a platform to really launch off of!

Score: 8.5/10

Reviews

Fortitude: can Gojira finally take their place at the top of the metal world?

28th July 2021 Overtone

Gojira has been one of the most popular and praised bands in heavy music for nearly a decade now. Being seven albums deep with their 2021 release, ‘Fortitude’, the band has gone from strength to strength each time – slowly progressing in size and mainstream appeal throughout each release. I have to admit I am a relatively new fan of the band, first listening to them around the release of ‘L’Enfant Sauvage.’ However, since then I have become a pretty big fan, checking out their entire back catalogue and loving all of it, so this album has been one of my most anticipated of the year. So far, the singles I have heard do not disappoint – it’s time to see how it is as a whole!

The lead single from the album, ‘Born for One Thing’, kicks it off. Opening on a building riff was an interesting choice, a great drumroll behind an interesting guitar chord and some wah. It soon explodes into a huge verse riff, the typical speed and heaviness that the band is known for these days driving hard behind Joe Duplantier’s fantastic, powerful, harsh vocals. The slower riffs between the verses are amazing and when it drops back even more for the chorus, it gives the song some great dynamics. It strikes me as a pretty radio-friendly song, outside of the verse vocals, something that could help catapult this band into an even higher position than they were already. Don’t get me wrong, though, it is still a HEAVY song. A great way to open the album, a lot better than Magma’s opener in my opinion, and one that easily makes the playlist!

Time for another single and another I’ve heard before the album release, ‘Amazonia.’ This was described by all the media platforms and fans upon its release as Sepultura-like, and it is hard to deny it really. It opens on a fantastic, simple drop-tuned guitar riff, some tribal-sounding instrumentation accompanying behind it. The chorus riff is fantastic too, simpler guitar work but the chords are heavy and fit the tone so well. The song gets even more fitting of the title after the second chorus, the guitars and bass dropping out, leaving just the great drumbeat and the tribal-like instruments and backing vocals/throat singing. Another easily playlisted song.

A song that for some reason I was under the impression wasn’t going to be on the album, ‘Another World’, is up next. I have to admit I wasn’t all too sold on this single when I first heard it and I don’t think multiple listens have changed my mind. The intro riff is great and pretty complex, yet it feels weird to just burst straight into it. The verses and chorus all kind of feel a little bland, in my opinion, especially considering the quality of the previous two songs. It feels like a layover from Magma, and not one of the great, heavier ones. It’s still a good song, one of the better ones to be released last year, but it isn’t up to the standard Gojira usually set for singles.

The first non-single on the album, ‘Hold On’, opens on vocals, which immediately threw me off. I wasn’t expecting it at all, but actually it sounded awesome. The multi-layers and harmonies reminded me a little of some of Machine Head’s more recent stuff (Locust and Bloodstone, not the atrocious Catharsis). We come out of the build into an almost Tool-esque riff before, in typical Gojira fashion, they make it HEAVY. The vocals stay fairly calm and clean(ish) through the whole song, the heaviest part of them being the gang vocals in the choruses (which sounds amazing.) Another fantastic song, a pretty great blend of their last two or three albums together into one epic, 5-and-a-half-minute song. It’s slow at times but can also heavy it up perfectly, the outro being a great example.

The longest song on the album is up next, the over 6 minute ‘New Found’. It starts in typical Gojira fashion again with a fast, heavy and unusual time signature. It reminds me of Flying Whales when that kicks in, and in no way is this a bad thing. The French riff-machines are on top form here, hitting us with heavy riff after heavy riff. Even their slower, more open choruses are still heavier than 95% of stuff around these days. Whether it’s their guitar tone, the massive drumming constantly, the de-tuned instruments, or what, they always have a way of making it sound dark. As much as I loved this track though, I don’t think it quite justifies its length. A fair amount was going on here, but there was also a lot of stuff that was repeated frequently or went on for a few bars longer than it felt like it should have. Heck, the outro alone is the same riff for two full minutes. It’s a great riff, but it got old fast – not to mention doing the cardinal sin of fading out. Still, whenever the heavy, chugging riffs come in, it’s impossible not to love it.

The album’s title track is up next. Being an interlude track it’s a nice little palate cleanser with two minutes of a great acoustic guitar riff, some simple percussion and melodic, distant harmonized vocals. It also works perfectly as an intro track for the next song, ‘The Chant’. How very Tool of them. This is the only pre-release song I hadn’t heard before doing this, and I have to say straight up from the start, I love it. Forget what I said about the opening track, this is clearly the radio single of the album. The chant itself is one of the catchiest things I’ve heard so far this year and the guitar riff works so damn well behind it. I HAVE to see this live. The vocals throughout are also maybe the cleanest I’ve ever heard Joe sound and I love it. I love his harsh screams too, but I wish we got more cleans from them. Hopefully, it is a direction they will continue to explore in the future. It kind of gives off Mastadon vibes that may just be because the vocals sound so similar. Heck, we even get a slight guitar solo which was a welcome addition. I loved everything about this song; the multiple vocal tracks gave it such an epic feel to it and it was basic yet so massively effective. This may go down as one of my favourite songs by the band and easily one of my favourites from the year so far. Playlisted!

‘Sphinx’ immediately heavies things back up again with a HUGE riff or three. As if to make up for the clean vocals in the previous song, Joe goes as heavy as ever with a low scream that almost made it a death metal song. The chorus is another catchy one and there are some amazingly heavy riffs packed into the relatively short (for Gojira) song.

The final single, ‘Into the Storm’, opens at a crazy fast pace and the cymbal work almost sounding like a train crossing bell. It builds perfectly into another massively fast, chuggy verse riff, reminding me of Stranded quite a lot. The vocals are pretty clean and catchy over the top of the chuggy guitars, clearly learning from the popularity of Stranded. While I loved it, I wouldn’t put it quite on the same level as some other tracks on the album. It is definitely single-worthy, but when compared to the likes of ‘The Chant’ and ‘Amazonia’, it feels just a tad “been there, done that.” The chorus is one of the best on the album though and one of the best they have ever done. Again, it channels more Machine Head vibes.

‘The Trials’ is the band’s version of a slow song, built mainly around a single riff and the vocals featuring very little in terms of heaviness or distortion. It’s a nice change of pace to keep things interesting towards the end of the album, but there isn’t much for me to talk about given that it is so simple and similar. Meanwhile, ‘Grind’ finally does what few modern albums seem to do these days and ends the album with a bang. It is full of fast, great riffs, low screamed vocals and enough heaviness to make you gurn throughout. While not the best song on the album, it is a fantastic closer and has some of the best riffs – making it a suitable end to a great album.

Overall: Given the high standard this band has set for their fans and the metal world in general, they never seem to disappoint. This was a great album that featured a variety of what they have to offer – a culmination of almost their whole career so far. It was also filled with catchy songs, something that I do truly believe will catapult the band to the next level. It lived up to the hype I had set and then some more; it is definitely one of the best albums of the year and a worthy follow-up to ‘Magma’. I honestly cannot gush over the musicianship enough with these guys and if you are into heavy music at all I would wholly recommend checking them out.

Score: 9/10

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Reviews

Closure: Will Attila ever mature?

25th July 2021 Overtone

American metalcore band Attila has been around for over a decade and a half at this point – much longer than anyone expected them to be, or most likely wanted them to be. A ‘comedy’ band rather famous on the internet for… well… being a bit cringy and overall not great. It has at least kept them relevant for all these years. Their ninth studio album, ‘Closure’, was released last week and, while I am not particularly a fan of the band from what I have heard, we needed something for New Music Mondays so let’s hope this album changes my mind.

Opening track ‘Anxiety’ opens just as heavy as I was expecting; some harsh growls from Fronz over the top of some ridiculously down-tuned guitar and bass. It heads into a slow riff(?) before quickly speeding up into more of a thrash feel. The guitars and drums here are fantastic, but the vocals are not for me at all. They’re either too high screams or massively low growls, neither of which I can really get on board with as even as a seasoned metalhead I struggle to work out what is being said. The chorus is pretty catchy though with the chanting backing vocals that would be fun live. The second verse at times channelled the band’s inner Korn which sounds awesome and I wish they’d have stuck to that throughout, to be honest. The rest of the song was pretty average, including a boring breakdown but after Googling the lyrics I was happy to find that they were actually pretty serious. Yes, they weren’t the most cleverly written I’ve ever heard/read, but they were at least covering a topic that is a serious issue in today’s society. Not for me, but not bad.

‘Empty Clip’ opens on a pretty sick riff, simple yet effective. The scratching behind it was even a nice touch, giving off great early Slipknot vibes. Heck, even the vocals were damn good when they first came in: low and groaning, again sounding reminiscent of Johnathan Davis. It builds into a heavier screamed vocal but it honestly also sounds great, building more and more into a catchy, clean vocals chorus. The rest of the song is more of the same but I have to admit that outside of the fairly juvenile lyrics, this was actually a pretty good song. It even made the playlist, something I never thought I’d say in this review!

One of the four pre-released songs from the album, ‘Metalcore Manson’, is a lot more what I expected of the band. It’s another pretty good guitar riff and the Cane Hill style weird notes over the top were a nice touch but I just can’t get around the CRINGY lyrics. I know that’s probably the point, and I don’t think it helped that I’ve also seen the video of this song, but the low rapping about how rich he is and how many women he gets almost made me turn the album off and stop the review right there and then. Heck, the chorus is even cringier and not that catchy at all, never mind the moral ambiguity of the subject matter. Outside of the opening riff, there is nothing I can praise about this song; I was seriously close to giving up. Unfortunately, I’m going to persevere in the hope that there are more songs like the previous one hidden among the flexing.

It was a bad idea.

The rest of the album had NOTHING on those first two songs, sadly. Aside from the final song, they were all full of flexing and posing; Fronz trying his best to keep up his ‘bad-boy’ persona and it just came across as some of the most cringe-worthy stuff I have ever listened to. This kind of content kind of worked for some of the 90’s and 2000’s rappers because it was at least believable and not quite as aggressive and on-the-nose, but here with a guy trying to rap the same thing over metal it just didn’t work at all. It didn’t even really come across as comedy either, it felt like it was being taken too seriously for that. It’s a shame too, as the instrumentation behind them for the most part was fantastic. Check out ‘Day Drinking’ below; it could have easily been my favourite song on the album with the great riff and solos if the lyrics weren’t so angsty and teenage. I think I got my hopes up for some decent music by the band too soon.

Overall: Yeah, I didn’t like this so much. As I said in the previous paragraph, it’s a shame too because musically they are a damn good band and for the most part Fronz’s voice isn’t terrible – when he’s trying to emulate guys like Marylin Manson and Johnathan Davis. But I just cannot get past the ridiculous subject matter and that alone made it a bad album for me. I know the band has their fans and if you like this sort of stuff that’s awesome, but I do also see why this band gets so much hate.

Score: 2/10

Interviews & Features

Unknown Refuge: The bridge between NWOCR and metal?

22nd July 2021 Overtone

Unknown Refuge are a hard rock/metal band from Bolton, England. Having been on the scene for a few years now, the guys have gained growing support and notoriety across the UK and played notable shows such as Manchester’s Band on the Wall and even the inaugural Stonedeaf festival. The band do not try to pigeonhole themselves into one particular sound and take inspiration from a range of influencers from ‘Iron maiden and Metallica to Volbeat, Alter bridge and Slash.’ We got the chance to sit down with the frontman of the band, Alex, and ask him a few questions about where the band is headed, the music world in general, and their newest album, ‘Into the Light.’

Alex shows a lot of love for the latter band of their influences, stating that it is Slash’s solo project with Myles Kennedy that got him into wanting to perform in the first place:

“I went to my first gig to see Slash, Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators with my mum and I remember just thinking wow that would be amazing. Ever since then I had been interested in being in bands and writing and performing my music. They’ve both been my influences ever since.”

‘Into the Light’ was released back in March last year to massive acclaim. Heck, I reviewed it very positively at my old place and it still remains up there with some of my favourite albums of the year so far. They even managed to work on the majority of it over the last year or so of lockdowns.

“Well luckily for us we had the album to promote and get in order so we were all still busy with it. Along with writing some new material and getting ourselves ready to release a new album, we’ve had plenty to do so I do feel for the bands though that haven’t quite had our luck and just been left for over a year.”

When speaking about the success of their debut and the potential follow-up, Alex said:

“Well we’re already writing new material, whether or not that gets properly recorded soon or if we’ll wait to release a new album we are not quite so sure. The support we’ve had with the first album has been incredible and hopefully our second album will be even stronger.”

Having been a part of the music scene for a few years now, they have a pretty good understanding of how it all works. We asked them what their favourite and least favourite parts of it were:

“I’d say personally I love performing songs which we have written ourselves, songs we have put our thoughts, emotions, feelings and skills into creating. But what makes this possible is the people at shows and fans and to see people enjoying it is what makes me love continuing to do so.

“I’d say places like Spotify where people listen to music, however the artist receives a ridiculously small amount of money from this. I hope this changes because for small bands having that bit extra cash to help the band grow can mean the world.

“I miss being able to interact with people of the same mind and all the fans that we would usually go and have a pint with, that’s the part I’ve missed the most. Probably just because it means I’ve got to spend time with the other band members instead.”

It wouldn’t be an Overtone interview either if we didn’t ask about what song he would have wanted to have written, right?

“It would probably have to be something like Master Of Puppets or The Trooper – just 2 of the best metal anthems ever written in my opinion.”

Finally, we tried to get an inside scoop into anything they have coming up in the immediate future:

“Well when venues open it will just be to do as many gigs as possible. We’ve missed being on the stage and amongst writing some new material I would love to just get out and gig again. Hopefully we’ll see gigs come back and with the lack of them over the last year they’ll come back better than before.”

Check out the up and coming hard rock band on their Instagram too from here.

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Reviews

Aussie rockers Massive release their latest single: Rise

22nd July 2021 Overtone

Aussie rockers Massive release their first track since 2019s ‘Rebuild Destroy’. ‘Rise’ is to be released exclusively for the NWOCR Compilation album out today – something that you will have to keep a close eye on as not only does it feature some of the best new rock music around today, but we may be doing more coverage of it soon! Massive join Thundermother and The New Roses (two more great bands!) as the two only international inclusions on the album.

The bands vocalist, Brad Marr, had this to say about the track:

“Rise is a song full of built up energy. We’re exploding to get back on a stage, turn up our amps and smash this out at full speed. We want nothing more than to drink beers and smash ears.”

The track itself is awesome. Just over three minutes of balls-to-the-wall rock’n’roll, a party feel that only an Australian band can truly provide. The riff is insane, the solos are crazy, Brad’s vocals are powerful and as on point as ever; the chorus is catchy as hell and the backing vocals getting a HUGE feel when they join in with the song’s title.

Check out the video for the track below!

The band are touring the UK in October/November in support of The Quireboys as well as a slew of their own headline shows and even an appearance at the much loved Hard Rock Hell Festival.

Order the full NWOCR compilation album here.

Check out our Instagram page here for more updates and content!

Reviews

Call of the Wild: Can the German power metallers POWERWOLF deliver another stellar album yet again?

19th July 2021 Overtone

Powerwolf has been around for a while now, releasing eight studio albums throughout their nearly 20-year career. In that time they have established themselves as one of the powerhouses of the genre and a must-see band live. Their latest album, Call of the Wild, is under our microscope today for New Music Monday. Having not listened to this band too much aside from their bigger songs, I have to say I’m pretty excited as I always need more power metal in my life!

‘Faster Than the Flame’ starts with some epic chanting and strings, immediately setting an awesome tone and feel to it. It then descends into the opening chorus, the vocals sounding powerful and great with some huge guitar chords and drums behind them. A quick verse riff follows afterwards – the drums’ double bass working overtime behind it. It drops down a little, some more chanted vocals in what I assume to be German, before that awesome catchy chorus comes back again. It’s already stuck in my head for the rest of the day and I’ve only heard it twice. We get a short bridge before a pretty great guitar solo, fast and technical for the first half before it slows down a little in the second part to match the rest of the instruments. It drops down again into another bridge with some catchy chants that build perfectly into a final chorus. This was a good song and a great start to an album, making the playlist!

The lead single of the album, ‘Beast of Gevaudan’, is up next. It opens on another build-up of chanting, this time it heads straight into a fantastic guitar and keys riff. The epicness definitely remaining from the previous song. Most of the instruments drop out for the verse, leaving just the powerful vocals and some basic drums. It builds up perfectly into the heaviness of another catchy chorus, though it wasn’t quite as good as the previous one. A lot was going on in it and even though there were more great backing vocals and harmonies, I think it was just a tad too wordy. We get an awesome breakdown after the second chorus with the strings and chanting coming back, easily signalling the pyro cue for live shows. The bridge between it and the solo sounds like it could have been ripped straight from a Maiden song, but that doesn’t take away its awesomeness. Another great solo leads to a dropped-down chorus, one that builds into a huge, epic final chorus. It was a good song overall, but I preferred the opener a fair bit more.

Another single ‘Dancing With the Dead’, is next. It opens on another epic power metal riff, the drums soon coming in to add the fast driving force behind it. It again drops down for the verse, mainly focusing on the vocals, strings, and keys. It builds well into the huge, heavier chorus – this one being a little simpler and catchier vocally. The second verse and chorus have a little more instrumentation to them, adding some great dynamics to the song. The more I hear the chorus, the more I fall in love with it, and it is going to be another track stuck in my head for days to come. The solo in this song is slower, re-treading the vocal melody for the most part, but it sounds awesome. If anything, it may be better than their crazy fast playing in the last two songs. It then heads into a final double chorus to end another fantastic song and one that rather easily made the playlist.

‘Varcolac’ opens on some more choir-style vocals and I have to admit it’s starting to wear a little thin on me already – not a good sign for a power metal album. Still though, the riff that proceeds it is pretty great. It’s a little steadier than I’m used to from the band so far. The verse maintains the same steady speed and riff, although they mention the song title so much in the lyrics that I was worried I’d gotten it confused and it was the chorus instead. I’m still a tad confused, but I think the higher, double-based parts are considered the choruses of the song. Either way, the chanting of Varcolac is catchier than any other part of the song so it may as well have been the chorus! A riff seems to come out of nowhere for a moment after the second chorus before it is quickly hidden by the vocals and epicness again, which was a little odd. It would have been nice to give the riff a little more time to breathe. We get a high bridge part again before it heads into a verse/chorus part again to finish it off. This was a good song, but man did the structure confuse me a little!

‘Alive or Undead’ starts slower than the others with a beautiful piano melody, but all I could think about was how much the choir at the start sounded like the Halo song. Karsten “Attila Dorn” Brill’s low vocals fit surprisingly well over the top of the piano, somehow adding even more beauty to the track. This song is a slow build; the strings and other accompaniment swells more and more as the vocals do and it takes over a minute and a half for it to finally break and the drums and guitars to come in. They only add to the epicness of it all – this feeling like a fantastic power metal power ballad… there must be an easier way of saying that! It all drops out again for a slow, brief guitar solo that builds up again for a huge final chorus and outro, even managing to squeeze another great guitar solo into it too. This was just the sort of change of pace this album needed after the first few tracks being a little similar and it worked perfectly, I loved it!

‘Blood for Blood’ opens with enough accordion that for a moment I thought I was listening to a Dropkick Murphys song. The heaviness is soon built in around it though as it turns into a power-folk-metal song, somehow. Unfortunately, outside of the interesting new instrumentation, there isn’t too much difference in this track that I haven’t already heard before on the album. Also, unfortunately, it is the same for the following track ‘Glaubenskraft’ and the album’s title track. ‘Call of the Wild’ has a damn catchy chorus, don’t get me wrong, but they are all fairly similar to the opening few tracks – enough for me not to have much to say about them!

The final three songs are again more of the same. I want to stress that it isn’t at all a bad thing; a band is going to have a distinct sound that they stick to, especially in such a niche sub-genre, it just means as a reviewer I have less to gush over. ‘Sermon of Swords’ has an awesome duelling solo and some fun chants, ‘Undress to Confess’ is silly, comedic brilliance that I wasn’t expecting to hear from an otherwise serious-sounding band and ‘Reverent of Rats’ is a pretty strong closer. However, outside of that, I can’t say much that I haven’t already said when talking about other songs.

Overall: This was a damn enjoyable album packed full of great instrumentation, epic feeling, and some very catchy vocals. It is another review that has immediately made me want to check out more of their stuff, as well as see them live as it is the sort of music that would be even better to see in person with the whole stage show backing it. One of the best new release this year!

Score: 7.5/10

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News

Iron maiden surprise release new single: Writing on the Wall

15th July 2021 Overtone

No, this is not a drill guys, it’s time to get excited!

After weeks of teasing something, as well as Bruce himself inviting everyone (not your mum though) to ‘Belshazzar’s feast’ earlier today, a livestream of their brand new song ‘Writing on the Wall’ was finally out.

As the band’s first new music since 2015’s critically acclaimed Book of Souls, it is definitely different to their previous work. They have spent the last few years revisiting their older music on their Legacy of the Beast tour, playing mainly songs from their first decade of music, so having new music drop out of nowhere was quite the shock.

It’s a fairly steady tempo and features more acoustic guitar and groove than a lot of their back catalogue. It still has all the hallmarks of classic Maiden too though, from the soaring vocals, blistering guitar solos, an incredible video and, best of all, a new Eddie!

Check out the new song and video in all of its glory down below and keep your fingers as crossed as ours for a release date for the new album!

Make sure to stay up to date on all our rock news on our Instagram here.

Interviews & Features

“I want to melt the faces at home”: Brand new TV show ‘Amped’ is set to bring rock music to the masses

11th July 2021 Overtone

The pilot of the brand-new music show ‘Amped’ is set to be filmed in November this year at the Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool, hosted by journalist Anne Estella and frontman Brad Marr.

Completely unscripted, the programme is designed to capture the energy and the atmosphere of a live rock show as well as put emerging young talent on centre stage. Amped is all about supporting and broadcasting up-and-coming UK rock, covering different branches of the genre.

“It’s all about the new talent”

The programme will feature three new wave rock bands in every episode. Filmed as a live gig with behind-the-scenes interviews, the show’s loose structure will allow viewers to get a down-to-earth perspective of bands and artists before, during and after their performance.

Anne Estella said: “Rock TV shows have been going since back in the day. We all grew up with one, anyone from my generation and older, but the current generation doesn’t have one. I want to see new rock bands on TV and so I made it my mission – that’s what I was going to do.”

“I’m hoping for a couple of surprises and something a little bit different than your average gig.”

With an extensive history in the music scene, Anne Estella described Brad Marr as the ideal partner to host with due to his interest and knowledge of the UK rock community.

Brad Marr has some background in radio and TV when he lived in Australia, but Amped is set to bring on a new and exciting dynamic for the singer.

Talking about the inspiration and the driving force behind Amped, Brad Marr said: “There’s social media, there’s YouTube. But what’s better than just having to search for it? Having a central location where you can click on and watch a TV show and find something new without having to search for it. We bring it to the people so that’s the reason.”

When asked why is now the right time for a rock show like Amped, Anne Estella said: “I feel there’s been a real evolution, especially in the UK, with a new wave of classic rock. It started in 2017 and it’s become a genre in itself which is incredible, and so many people are really backing it up. We’re seeing it now but it’s still a very small community compared to other genres, for example. Writing is something I’ve done for a long time and I’ve got my YouTube channel and Brad’s got his podcast.

“I always felt there must be something more and now is the time to do it. We’ve got the most amazing talented bands over here. If not now, when are we going to do it? Now’s the time.”

“Every time you go there it feels like home”

The first episode of Amped will be filmed at the Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool which is promoted as “a venue for musicians ran by musicians.”

Brad Marr said: “I think the Waterloo is perfect for what we’re doing because it’s a musicians bar run by musicians for musicians. Their entire set up is for musicians. They could make a lot more money if they spent more money on food or whatever they wanted to, but they want to be a band venue and that’s exactly what this TV show is about – supporting the bands. It’s a match made in heaven.

“I’ve made a lot of drunken bad decisions in the Waterloo many times and even though it’s a long way from home for me, every time you go there it feels like home because it’s a musician’s place. It’s exactly what musicians need when they’re on the road. It’s this cool home-like pub that you know supports musicians so it’s perfect for us.”

Want to get involved with Amped? You can.

In the future, there might even be an application process in place for bands, artists and their biggest fans worldwide to put new talent forward to be included in the programme.

Anne Estella said: “I don’t have any specific bands in mind. If they’re good they’re good, right? It can be a tiny band that nobody’s heard of or it can be bigger bands. I don’t want anyone too big because that’s not the point of the show. We want to be supportive of the up and coming talent. Each time for each episode I want it to be a nice selection of different styles within the rock genre which we definitely have for the pilot.”

Reviews

Mallavora: is this hard rock band the breath of fresh air the British heavy music scene needs?

6th July 2021 Overtone

Mallavora promote themselves as ‘bringing heavy rock music back to young people in an inclusive space.’ Pretty big words for any band, never mind one that has only been around for a few years and only actively releasing music for less than two. However, having heard one of their songs already, they seem to be a damn fine group of musicians creating some good music. The band released their debut 4-track EP last year; it’s my job to sit down and see if their claims are true or not.

‘Ego’ opens on a pretty heavy, interesting riff, although it does sound like a Biffy Clyro song that I cannot for the life of me place after an hour of searching. It soon heads into a HUGE opening chorus – Jessica Douek’s vocals sounding fantastic and powerful as she sings a catchy, singalong melody.

This song is all about the chorus – a catchy, radio-friendly track that’s ideal for a single. The bridge after the third chorus is great, stripping the instrumentation back down while some repeated lyrics come in over the top. It builds up into a huge breakdown and then the song ends. The structure threw me off a little and I feel that I would have liked another chorus at the end. But, given that the track kicked off with one, it makes sense why they chose not to. Either way, it’s an incredibly catchy song and made my personal playlist.

‘Deceiver’ explodes into another heavy riff, one that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Gojira album. I love the dynamics during the verse – just drums, a low, fuzzy bass and vocals for the first half. I don’t love the double-tracked vocals; in my opinion, it drops the production sound a little when the rest of the album sounds superb. It builds back into the heaviness with the low, distorted guitar coming back perfectly. The track stays heavy after the second verse, evolving the riff a couple of times, keeping the fun and heaviness whilst adding another great layer to the overall sound each time. The instrumentation writing with this band is fantastic. Another good song, so much so that I’m not sure what tracks I prefer so far – both were so different.

A drum roll leads to a still heavy but more Royal Blood sounding riff to open up ‘Favourite Mistake’. However, the verse really confused me. Between the accent and the melody of both the riff and vocals, it felt like I was listening to a heavier punk song or even something by Madness. It was cool, don’t get me wrong, it just threw me off at first. It all builds again into an amazing chorus, maybe my favourite one so far as it was the least repetitive of all of them while still being pretty damn catchy. Overall, I think this might be the most enjoyable song for me as everything worked: the vocals, the riffs, the structure – it all felt right. Another one added to my playlist!

And finally, we reach the last song on the EP, ‘Paradise’. Clocking in at nearly eight and a half minutes, it is almost twice as long as all the other songs which of course means either two things: amazing epic song or long, drawn-out mess. Thankfully, Mallavora continue their EP streak and I’m inclined to say the former.

It opens on a great guitar riff – me instantly falling in love with the effect and tone Larry Sobieraj uses. I have to admit I was a little shocked that the vocals started as soon as they did, I thought given the length of the track they’d drag it all out a little more. The vocals worked pretty well over the top, as did the simple drums. I loved this slow part, so much so that when it got heavy out of nowhere it again threw me off. Especially given that not only did it all get heavier and distorted, but the tempo sped up suddenly. After a slow chorus, it almost immediately drops down into another steadier, quieter chorus before repeating the formula again. It was a slightly easier transition this time, as at least this verse was in the same tempo as the heavier parts but it still comes out of nowhere a little bit. We get three verses before it drops down into a pretty cool little guitar riff. The lyrics are interesting, even if they are a little too conspiracy-y for me. This section slowly builds more and more, giving me pretty major Tool vibes with how slow they take it. Then, out of nowhere again, another heavier riff. It’s pretty good and gets better when it heads into more of the breakdown, not going on for nearly long enough before the vocals come back in and lead it to another double chorus. It then heads into the slow intro section for the final minute or so before giving us our only guitar solo of the EP. Whilst being kind of slow, it fit the track perfectly. I have no idea how to feel at the end of this song. Parts were good and definitely felt like it had an epic momentum, but it was also a tad messy – I’m not sure if that’s due to the shock I felt on my first listen and it might grow on me in time.

Overall: Mallavora are all very talented individuals. The UK needs more good, young rock bands and they definitely fit this description. I wasn’t expecting this vibe for my very first listen, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. I would happily see these guys live and can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Score: 7/10

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