Gotthard’s #13, which is aptly titled for a thirteenth studio release, surprised me in several ways. The first way it took me back was looking at the history of the band, seeing they’ve been around for the best part of three decades and seeing how their last 11 albums have all reached number 1 in the Swiss charts. The second way I was surprised, is that Gotthard list their influences as Zeppelin, AC/DC, Whitesnake and Bon Jovi – a palate which, if you’ve read some of the reviews I’ve written of acts in the modern-hard rock game, has a habit of making me roll my eyes before thinking ‘here we go again’ and trotting out the same bland review that I must have penned a few times now. However, contrary to that I rather loved the way Gotthard carried their act out. As I have said before, I am not at all against an act taking huge inspiration from the classics, so long as they can nail down that sense of energy and high voltage, while still bringing hints of uniqueness to the table. And Gotthard, they bring a sense of dynamism, cultivating huge riffs and a sense of pomposity which draws on the cited inspirations, without necessarily seeming like weak rehashes of past triumphs. Bad News has a fuzzy and driving riff, beginning the record with a sense of bravado which is only aided by the marching rhythm sections, and the strong melody which I felt was eliciting strong Free or Bad Company vibes - combining a passionate love of soaring vocals with a cheeky, smirking attitude. Contrary to this, Every Time I Die feels distinctly more contemporary and fresh with the rollicking bass line, erratic guitar interjections, affecting vocal harmonies and a solo which feels utterly unleashed.
Missteria further expands on the ideas started there, with an elusive tribal beat, paired with constantly changing instrumentals – on top of that, our charismatic frontman brilliantly commands the harmonies and changes from verse to hook, with the strange backing vocals adding to the mysterious theme of the track. Continuing the casual flirting with different style, 10,000 Faces has more of a grungy or alternative feel, with a slow plotting riff and an infectiously danceable chorus, which wonderfully segways into a group chant in the final moments of the anthem. Even S.O.S which rounds off the first half of #13 proves a spiraling and elevated power ballad that carries the themes of love and heartbreak, without seeming schmaltzy or overdramatic. Another Last Time proves another traditional, hard rock track yet never loses its sense of volume. In fact, after the opening guitar noodlings, the piece bursts into life with a gigantic lead section, and the bass and drums doing everything they can to support that in the development towards an equally monstrous refrain! The same could be said of the outstanding Better Than Love – a song that will be sure to take you back to good times, and one I will surely be returning to. Save The Date has a strut to its rhythm which keeps the impetus of the record driving forward, while Man On A Mission beguiles with serene, bluesy textures, without sacrificing the sense of catchiness on show throughout.
I will admit that the acoustic ballad Marry You breaks the tension somewhat, though it's exquisitely performed, with the strings and classical acoustics being a lovely touch. No Time To Cry ends up as one of the most boisterous and anthemic tracks on the entire album, with each member firing on all cylinders to the extent where just when you feel that the anthem is drawing to a close, it fires back up again, for Gotthard to bring more of their signature prowess and dramatics into the fold. I Can Say I’m Sorry, despite being lent some darkness by the pianos and the strings lacks in earnestness for me, not helped by the cliché lyrical choices and the lifeless chants of ‘Na Na Na’ in the closing few moments. Mercifully, Rescue Me is a far more worthy and commanding way to close the albums, bringing back the groovy, flavoursome and funk-laden movements, into a fun and animated finishing piece. As I said at the start of this review Gotthard surprised me – they were able to showcase their idols and inspirations, yet in a way which aided the originality and excitement of #13. This might have been my first exposure to them but if they are making rock music with so much heart so late into their career, they still have a shining future ahead of them. 7/10
Åskväder: Åskväder (The Sign Records) [Simon Black]
So, now we all know the Swedish word for ‘Thunderstorm’. Now this name, and the painted cover depicting the band’s gear set up on a lonely storm swept rock, might start you thinking that this was firmly in the power metal camp, but not so. Åskväder are a 3 piece straight ahead slightly indie influenced rock band with a dash of blues with some catchy tunes and plenty of riffs and hooks, but definitely not metal. And the weather motif is understandable given how windswept the western shores of the country where they hail from are. At 36 minutes, it doesn’t outlive its welcome, and the ten tracks are no nonsense 3 minute or so affairs with a solid structure and consistent song writing throughout. For a debut album, they’ve got some good, clear and decent quality production, and you can hear the musicians clearly. The tone stays generally up-tempo throughout, and if I was going to pick a favourite I would go with Bit My Lip, which pretty well sums up where their coming from – tight playing, catchy riff, nice harmonies and a fair bit of foot tapping as you listen, which is always a bonus. These guys are playing what they like to hear, and not trying to reinvent the wheel, but the challenge will be finding a place in a crowded global market. Hopefully this label debut will give them the chance to move further afield than Sweden and Germany. A promising start. 7/10
Human Impact: Human Impact (Ipecac Recordings) [Alex Swift]
Imagine a scenario. Four of the most experimental musicians coming together under one project. Now ask yourself what would you get? The answer is, of course, anything they want. Human Impact is a visceral and crushing creation oozing with the raw sound investigation of the early work from each of those acts, while bringing fierce melodies to the album and creating a product which stands on its own as, unlike anything these musicians have done before – or will do again, for that matter. Much how I can visualize a recording session with these three looking, the ideas don’t so much as caress each other in gentle harmony. Rather, they collide from different directions, exploding into colour and splattering surrounding in messy yet dazzling detail. Instrumentally, it's sharp and impassioned while execution wise, the experience proves unleashed and maddened. For people who have been fans of any of these acts before, none of this will be a surprise. For those newcomers in the audience, you may have just discovered great diving in point for experimental rock music! November begins on dissonant guitars, which embrace arbitrariness and uncertainty as a mechanism for enticing the listener.
While achieving that Spencer of Unsane fame, delivers his lyrics with a kind of unhinged poetry as Puleo commands with erratic drumming, and Pravdica lays down groove ridden bass textures, giving the opener a jilted rhythm and march. Coleman is on synthesizers throughout and while his role is more minimalist and elusive, his electronic scatterings certainly contribute a quality which would be sorely missed otherwise. The following tracks E605 and Protester are perfect specimens of pieces which are chaotic and frenzied, yet spurred by mesmerizing memorability; The former a pulsating, doom-laden stomp, and then later an uncanny venture into their interpretations on post-rock and proof that often, making enticing music can involve franticly throwing isolated concepts at a blank canvass, just to relish in the disorder! Perhaps obviously, the wordplay often takes on cryptic meanings, proving just revealing enough that you might divulge some significance from the strangeness. ‘’Surrounded by thieves. Hard to trust what to believe. Leave nothing intact. Looking back, we were deceived’’ Spencer muses on Portrait to the sound of scary, ominous beats and distorted instrumentals which aid the climb towards the howling chorus. One truth is for sure, observers would be hard-pressed to feast their ears on Human Impact and call them blissful – everything is lathered in darkness, and lyrics speak of the distrust and anxiety that lurks behind the eyes of every person you encounter.
All this is set to playing which is as skillful at crafting a Grimm mood as eliciting bedazzlement – aspects evidenced wonderfully by the disquietingly buoyant Respirator, and the hauntingly dramaturgical Cause. These stay with the idea of continuously alter the tone of the record yet do so brilliantly with all the unique ideas bleeding into one another aggressively and artistically - "Watch the Sun Sink, we’re told what to think’’. It’s one skill to surprise, it's quite another to continue to surprise. Consequences do just that with a deafening cavalcade of styles, all locked in a kind of psychotic ball routine with one another – an instinctual guitar riff lurches into a danceable keyboard melody, that might, in turn, lead into an ill-omened rhythm section or screams of anger from our ever exuberant frontman. On precisely that note – I’m going to give you 1 try at guessing how Relax sounds. Have you thought of something? Well, whatever you guessed, you’re wrong. The piece is, in fact, a wave of sound which apes that a concert hall full of insects, attempting to form an orchestra. Do you understand? No, me neither. This sense of capriciousness is carried onto the final two tracks: Unstable - a ferocious anthem of exaltation bringing together influences from world music – and This Dead Sea – an incredibly thrashing experience, which ends the album on the same sense of unleashed dynamism with which it started.
There’s enough here to supplement the craving many have for experimental rock with a lot of the acts who defined the genre, typically having long spaces between albums these days. Still, if you are new to the genre and not sure where to start, I’d recommend Human Impact before immediately diving into any of the associated acts – its weird enough to scratch an itch, yet clever enough to hook you in. 8/10
Trauma: Ominous Black (Selfmadegod Records) [Simon Black]
Trauma have been at this a while, and this opus is album number eight from the Polish Death three-piece (well, three in the studio anyway). Now normally, our esteemed editor knows better than to throw Death Metal in my direction, because he knows I’m a poncy power/prog head at heart, so I was quite surprised when this one flew across the decks. I was even more surprised to find myself really enjoying it…The production is what you would expect from an experienced band – with a nice solid richness and clarity across the mix, and vocals up enough in the mix to understand and carry the songs. The album opens with a fairly standard burst of Death metal in Inside The Devil’s Heart, but then started to really mess with my preconceptions.
By the time we get to Astral Misanthropy, I’m really sitting up and taking notice, at the astoundingly accurate kick-drum work, that must have cost a fortune in gear and the kind of guitar work that I might expect out of the more symphonic end of my musical tastes, but held back from the brink enough to be impressive but not overtly show-off-ish. My personal favourite is the pit-frenzy inducing I Am Universe – driving rhythm, some subtle changes of pace and instrument tone and nifty bass work. It carries itself well for its nearly 7 minutes, and I can see it being a centre piece live. I’m going to call out The Black Maggots as well, for some absolutely solid riffage, time-changes that don’t sound flashy and an absolutely spot on melodic solo. 7/10
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