Cornwall has always produced a lot of mysticism and mythos, the people are usually defiant and a little bit left of centre to the rest of the UK (though we Celts are all little like that). Music plays a part in all Celtic heritage and Cornwall is no exception, even in their rock n roll. Wille & The Bandits have been flying the flag for Kernow, roots rock for across previous albums and through shows across the world that have regularly won them the awards of best live band.
Their last album was excellent and When The World Stood Still promises to be better, mainly due to it being bitter suite and a wee bit mystical. Recorded during the pandemic, the record sees vocalist/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Wille Edwards crafting tracks about the world wide lockdown, with live music going silent they huddled together in possibly the most iconic studio in the UK John Cornfield’s Sawmills to put down When The World Stood Still.
Sawmills itself has played host to The Stones, Muse, Oasis and Robert Plant and now seems to be on its last legs, so this record stands almost as the studio’s epitaph. You can feel the magic in the production, engineering and mix etc, there’s a torrent of emotions brought through the eclectic sound of the band, from rock to Americana, funk to blues and everything in between it all has this warmth to it guided by the hand of John Cornfield, who engineered and co produced with the band.
The crowdfunded record is a journey through various musical landscapes, Caught In The Middle featuring some big fuzzing riffs, Harry Mackaill bass throbbing on top of Tom Gilkes strutting drum beat, as well as a bit of hip hop attitude. The rhythm section throughout brings the thunder, I’m Alive feeling like a Soundgarden cut due to Wille’s husky, melodic vocal. He shows off his string bending prowess with tracks such as Without You and Solid Ground, both of which feature a slower, evocative atmosphere, built on the foundation of Matthew Gallagher’s Hammond/Fender Rhodes/Mellotron combinations and Edwards impressive guitar playing.
The influences on both these songs being clearly Led Zeppelin (Without You) and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac (Solid Ground). The Good Stuff is an upbeat hip shaker with some slinky slide/lap steel guitar. But they don’t stop with just this as Will We Ever is pure Delta blues, Move To Fast is stinking of funk and the title track is infused with gospel. It’s the eclectic nature of the record that keeps the attention high, you never quite know where they are going to go next but you know that it’ll be yet more rootsy, blue collar rock brimming with influences such as Cornell, Petty, Seeger, Springsteen and host of bluesmen. When The World Stood Still poses the question if things will ever be the same? Let’s hope for yes as I would love to see this record live. 9/10
Silverlane - III: Inside Internal Infinity (Drakkar Entertainment)
Formed under another name in 1995, Silverlane have existed since 2005, releasing their second full length Above The Others in 2010. The melodic power metal band then sort of went to ground. According to the PR that accompanied this record their were births, marriages and divorces but now 12 years later they return again the core membership of Tom Klossek (vocals), Uli Holzermer (lead guitar), Chris Alexander Schmitt (guitar) and Daniel Saffer (bass) return, with the addition of Basti Kirchdörfer on drums, as former drummer and band founder Simon Micheal Schmitt produces this record.
Formed under another name in 1995, Silverlane have existed since 2005, releasing their second full length Above The Others in 2010. The melodic power metal band then sort of went to ground. According to the PR that accompanied this record their were births, marriages and divorces but now 12 years later they return again the core membership of Tom Klossek (vocals), Uli Holzermer (lead guitar), Chris Alexander Schmitt (guitar) and Daniel Saffer (bass) return, with the addition of Basti Kirchdörfer on drums, as former drummer and band founder Simon Micheal Schmitt produces this record.
They have also lost a keyboard player but III: Inside Internal Infinity still has plenty of synths, keys and orchestrations. So after 12 years how have Silverlane faired in their return? Well the recitation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an auspicious start but it builds in to I Universe a track that displays a much more muscular, modern and mature style from Silverlane. They are still melodic, the power metal is still there but this third album more often than not are in a very modern sound, Blessed sounds a bit like Metallica, Soul Of Tears is the albums big ballad and there's a lot of orchestrals on Medusa which has fantasy lyrics galore.
I'm all for this more modern sound as it displays that Silverlane have evolved as a band over past 12 years into one that fits right into 2022. Melodic metal with a rougher edge that brings songs such as Für Immer Und Ewig, which features Patty Gurdy on co vocals, to life. Good things come to those who wait and Silverlane have the waited long enough. 7/10
Agvirre - _ _ _ _ _ _ (Through Love Rec/Surviving Sounds/Trepanation)
Well this is an angry record, a tsunami of blackened post-rock with elements of shoegaze, drone and ambient all delivered with an existentialist, nihilistic outlook. Like the debut album Silence this album handles with struggles with mental health in a wider societal context rather than through a personal lense, this includes the pandemic, lockdowns, isolation, political unrest, social division and police brutality and systematic racism, the album is claustrophobic, but also angry, grief stricken and uncompromising.
Well this is an angry record, a tsunami of blackened post-rock with elements of shoegaze, drone and ambient all delivered with an existentialist, nihilistic outlook. Like the debut album Silence this album handles with struggles with mental health in a wider societal context rather than through a personal lense, this includes the pandemic, lockdowns, isolation, political unrest, social division and police brutality and systematic racism, the album is claustrophobic, but also angry, grief stricken and uncompromising.
The opening track Urtica In Glass is a 10 minute track that builds from the sample of a police incident that escalates into an armed standoff, backed by some fizzing electronics, expansive drumming augmented by trumpets, that come from brass trio The River Versus. It builds and builds, the bass from Dave pulsating as the drumming gets louder, then it explodes into frenzied wide eyed vocal screams from Frenchie who is responsible for the electronics/synths. It's a unwaveringly heavy start to the record, the vocals especially just screams, not many lyrics just impassioned screams. Drawing from the sound of bands like Ghost Bath, Alcest and Cult Of Luna, Urtica In Glass picks up speed, Richardo's guitars played with some black metal tremolos, as the atmosphere changes again to a more cathartic sung passage with impressive percussion and those wonderful trumpets.
_ _ _ _ _ _ builds on their debut but makes leap into uncharted waters, they have tightened and build upon those foundations with something that is as impressive as it is experimental. _ _ _ _ _ _ (In Plain Sight) serves as a shoegazing interlude readying you for the third and final track on the record For El Dorado, Whenever I May Find You, it rages from the first few moments, before dropping into hammond drenched sections as the brass flares up again in the emotional post rock sections towards the end. It's an EP that marks, the deafening latest chapter in this band's impressive history, a band to put on your watchlist. 9/10
Urzah - II (Self Released)
Bristol psychedelic sludgers sent me their debut offering back in June 2020. Their thunderous three track EP featured crushing riffs, plenty of reverb and grooves as deep as the Avon. It was grungy, dirty and hypnotic in places, perfect for those early pandemic blues. So over a year later we have their second EP, this time it's four tracks and last time I said did they expanded their style they could be real contenders.
Bristol psychedelic sludgers sent me their debut offering back in June 2020. Their thunderous three track EP featured crushing riffs, plenty of reverb and grooves as deep as the Avon. It was grungy, dirty and hypnotic in places, perfect for those early pandemic blues. So over a year later we have their second EP, this time it's four tracks and last time I said did they expanded their style they could be real contenders.
So how excited was I when Where Is Your Sun?/Bloodrite started the EP with some aggressive hardcore vocals and chugging riff feels a bit more like Crowbar, as they shift into a the Bloodrite section bringing more stomping riffage as it fades to silence. II sounds a lot better than the first EP, it's got a cleaner production sound to it, making a song like The Lure, which is just a shimmering clean guitar instrumental feel a bit more resonant as we are taken into the final track Shards which again feels like a groove metal track in the vein of Corrosion Of Conformity meets Pantera.
II is the evolution of Urzah, combining what they have done with additional flavourings to broaden their sonic horizons. Watch out for Urzah at a venue near you soon. 7/10
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