For those who may not know, Corman Neeson is the frontman and vocalist of Northern Irish band The Answer. For over a decade, Neeson and his fellow band mates toured the world, released several excellent releases, supported AC/DC and The Rolling Stones, almost combusting into dust before regrouping for 2016’s superb Solas, an album that took some time to work its magic on me. Live, the band were able to pool classic rock fans with those who enjoy the heavier things in life, such was their charisma and power. Neeson is the beating heart of the band, a humble man whose sheer presence is captivating in the live arena. I have followed him on Facebook and watched with interest as White Feather has been brought together. Solas was born out of despair and adversity but also from hope. Neeson’s son had been born desperately premature, with life threatening complications and Downs Syndrome, and it was this life changing event that pushed him to move to something different, away from the more constricting routine rock ‘n’ roll. Having spent several weeks across a 15-month period in the USA, White Feather was recorded in Nashville in 2018 and completed in Belfast shortly afterwards.
It is no surprise to read that Neeson worked with some of Nashville’s finest musicians whilst in the States, such is its bluesy country feel. A blend of Celtic and Nashville styles, this is an emotional reflection of the journey Neeson has been travelling over the past five years. White Feather is cathartic without a doubt, but as much as this is Neeson baring his inner soul, the music still needs to work. Unsurprisingly it does, with his rich soulful vocals and the heart wrenching lyrics which describe how it is to bring up a child with a disability tugging at every raw emotion. A gentle combination of backing music plays the perfect supporting role. Country, blues, even gospel. From the bluesy rich warming Don’t Wait Up, the crackling sentiment of the title track and the tear inducing Broken Wing, with some of the most poignant lyrics I’ve ever heard combining with beautiful pedal steel, this is an autobiographical album of sheer beauty. Listen, feel, enjoy. 9/10
Strained Nerve: Volume Of Age (NonStopMusicRecords) [Matt]
If you're looking for information on Strained Nerve (the band) then I suggest learning German, as everything written about them seems to be Auf Deutsch. Now my German fluency is not as good as it used to be so I must admit I struggled a little, though not as much as I thought, (music is music innit?). It was a surprise to me then with all that press that this band are Swiss not German, not only that but they don’t sound like they come from either country musically. No Volume Of Age is a modern metal record that mixes the tremolo picking of death metal, (No Escape), with the more melodic styling of metalcore, (The River).
It’s all very heavy and aggressive, things move at a blistering pace, breaking down in places for chunky stomps and even some frenetic melo-death solos, think Soilwork and you’ll be in on the right path. It’s slick as you like, not a missed beat on the entire record but I did find my attention wandering a little as the lack of variation really sank in. If you’re buff then Strained Nerve are a great melodic death metal band but it’s all a bit to similar for me. 7/10
Sister Shotgun: Fragments (Pavement Music) [Matt]
I’m not a huge fan of the ‘female fronted’ genre tag, we’ve used it before when PR has dictated but I think bands are bands no matter who is playing what. That being said there does seem to be a style to these bands that is either symphonic metal, Within Temptation, Delain, Visions Of Atlantis etc or modern metal(core) ala Halestorm, New Years Day, In This Moment etc West Midlands based Sister Shotgun fall into the latter, fronted by the classically trained vocals of Chloe Ozwell Sister Shotgun are about as American as apple pie but from the birthplace of heavy metal. It’s not surprising then that they have made waves over in the States, being signed to a multi-album deal, the first of which is Fragments.
It’s what you’d expect from this style of band, defiant lyrics delivered with passion and power by Chloe as the band crank out melodic guitar hooks and muscular rhythms, tracks like From The Ashes, Miss Fortune and Scorn allow them to bring the heavy where as the ballad For The Love Of Hate and the radio friendly Silhouettes give them that inclusive sound that will set them up as one of the ones to watch in 2019. Produced by Wales own Romesh Dodangoda (Motorhead, Funeral for a Friend, BFMV and Bring Me the Horizon) at Longwave Studios, Sister Shotgun’s debut album looks set to get them into the conversation of ‘next big thing’ and if you value that tag and love the heavier yet melodic ‘female fronted’ style of metal then Sister Shotgun are a band to check out! 7/10
Prysma: Closer To Utopia (Self Released) [Matt]
Prysma (or Πrisma) are a progressive rock band from Thessaloniki in Greece and they have clearly drawn influence from the shoreline of the city on opening exploration Bad Time To Dream? Which floats lazily, with whispered vocals and ambient tones taking it through some jazz rhythms that will soothe the most volatile souls. Closer To Utopia is their debut album, featuring five tracks of 70’s progressive rock influenced music, with a shades of King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator and obviously that post Saucerful Of Secrets, pre-Dark Side experimental Floyd sound. The songs are pretty length but they paint audio and visual images with their music, making things much more complex than your average 4 minute rock song.
Prysma don’t do heavy either, so if you want lots of distortion then look elsewhere. This is the land of wah-wah, reverb, phase and loop pedals, except for one major part of the doomy Hypnotized. Although that’s not to say they can’t rock it as they do on Lost In The Sky and the Latin-flavoured Mundo Muerto, but they prefer to keep things spacey a little like bands such as Astra, Diagonal or The Gentle Knife, as the relaxed musical journey has some very dark lyrics. Prysma are Spyros Delidimitriou (vocals/guitar), Konstantinos (guitar/vocal/synth), Giannis Koutsos (bass/vocals) and drummer Tryfon Ghentis and this is a strong debut release of classic British prog rock from Northern Greece. 7/10
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