Album review: SANTA CRUZ – Bad Blood Rising

M-Theory Audio [Release date 10.11.17]

Finnish band Santa Cruz have just released 3^rd album “Bad Blood Rising” which, with its heavy yet melodic sleaze, builds nicely on its earlier predecessors whilst encompassing a more modern edge.

Opening track “Young Blood Rising” packs a sonic punch, and with some rather tasty guitar work sets up the remainder of the album. The album’s slower side comes courtesy of “Drag Me Out Of The Darkness”, “Get Me Out Of California” and the more ballad like “Breathe”. On the other side of the coin we have the energetic, and aptly named, “Pure Fucking Adrenaline”. Throw tracks like “Voice of The New Generation”, “Back From The Dead” and “Bad Habits Die Hard” into the mix and what you have is a solid album that should propel the band even further forward.

In a way “Bad Blood Rising” marks the start of a new era for the band, or to put it more dramatically this serves as a kind of rebirth for Santa Cruz. Having previously been named by Rolling Stone magazine as a band to watch and with a fan base that has seen them tour in Europe and the US regularly over the last few years, 2017 finds them on a new label and with a changing sound – this should help grow the fan base even further and it will be interesting to see what 2018 holds for the band. ***1/2

Review by Nikk Gunns

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)