Thirteen 772 Music [Release date 07.03.16]
By their own admission, Mikael Johannesson and Phillip Strange have gone heavier for this five track EP ahead of a full-length album, the follow-up to 2013′s ‘Mourning Phoebe’.
Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it does mean that this “taster” of the band’s new direction lacks the distinctiveness of their first recorded effort which we gave a firm four stars.
Whilst that debut sometimes gave us a modern twist on retro psych-rock four of the five tracks here are simply heavy rock . ‘Let It Rain’ rattles along but is fairly ordinary and fails to be lifted by a decent guitar solo, merely some perfunctory shredding (aka widdle) from Johannesson. ‘Invisible Man’ impresses with another pounding riff whilst ‘Storm Clouds’ edges into power metal territory. But the truth is, there are many other bands that do this better.
‘Never’ and ‘Stay’ slow the pace and the latter is actually a rather good ballad which does show a depth in the Anglo-Swedish duo’s musical armoury.
‘Evilution’ may perhaps best be considered as “work in progress”. The duo appear to do everything themselves (although aided on drums and keys by ‘The Ghost’) which is creditable but my guess is that they would be better with a sympathetic producer to steer them along a more original course and bring the very best out of their undoubted ability. ***
Review by David Randall
David Randall presents ‘Assume The Position’ on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio every Sunday at 22:00 GMT.
Album review (‘Mourning Phoebe’, 2013)
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