Album review: REVIVAL BLACK – Under The Light

TMR Records [Release date 26.08.22]

Like Mason Hill and Hollowstar (amongst others), Revival Black occupy that space called “the new wave of classic rock”. Their debut came out in 2019 and ‘Under The Light’ is set to consolidate their position.

The trick with a heavy rock album is “keep it lean, keep it mean”. With tracks clocking in at single length there is no chance of any unnecessary padding or filler. And talking of which, any track on this album could be a “single”.

Opener ‘Believe’ demonstrates the band’s modus operandi with the twin guitar onslaught of Alan Rimmer and Adam Kerbache and wide vocal range of the impressive Dan Byrne. And the anthemic choruses, sure to be crowd pleasers, are never very far away.

Amongst the standouts here are ‘Broken Home’ and ‘Hurricane’, the latter with a definite Alter Bridge vibe. Fans of that band, and indeed Slash’s recent solo albums, should investigate ‘Under The Light’.

Melodic Rock Editor Andy Nathan has reviewed their gigs with Scarlet Rebels and Vega and more recently at the Firestorm festival (August 2022) when he wrote “…to my ears lacks a bit of variety and memorable hooks”.

There’s certainly very little light and shade (apart from ‘Hemispheres’), just piledriving riff-driven heavy rock. Maybe greater sublety will come with album no.3 but for now – in a crowded marketplace – these Liverpool lads are real contenders. ****

Review by David Randall

UK dates
2nd Oct 2022 NWOCR Festival @ KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
29th Oct 2022 Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend
5th Nov 2022 HRH 15 @ Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth
18th Nov 2022 FiendFest (RockFiend) Festival @ Ivory Black’s Glasgow
28th Nov 2022 Hangar 18, Swansea

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Power Plays w/c 21 April 2025

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PARKER BARROW Make It (indie)
REDIKIN Nailed It (Wormholedeath)
PENNY FOUNTAIN Euphoria (indie)
CRY FOR MERCY Saving Grace (indie)
VIGILANTES Life In The Fast Brain (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 21 April 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
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