Reviews: Girish And The Chronicles, Arctic Rain, The Privateer, Spell Garden (Reviews By Rich Piva, Matt Bladen, David G & Mark Young)

Girish And The Chronicles - Back To Earth (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]

If Girish And The Chronicles were around in 1987-91, they would have appeared on every mix tape I made. The Bangalore, India band have pretty much perfected the sound of that time with their mix of everything that was trademarked in heavy music in the 80s; guitar hero antics, soaring vocals, slick production, catchy songs, layered harmonized background vocals, etc. 

A virtual hodgepodge of 80s Maiden and Priest with some Def Leppard, G n’ R, Whitesnake, some other 80’s hair bands and a damn near ringer for Slave To The Grind era Skid Row. Cool, right? I really enjoy the retro journey these guys take me on, but was a re-recording of their 2014 debut necessary? I mean re-recording songs worked for Coverdale, right? (I prefer hobo to drifter, but that is a discussion for a different review). 

Well, the answer is kind of. 

Songs like Born With A Big Attitude, Shot By Cupid, and Hey You are serious STTG Skid Row worship, and that is a good thing. Ride To Hell and Loaded are bonafide 1989 hits and would have been great live as played the opener on the Use Your Illusion tour (I know that tour was in 1991 but you get what I am saying). I Wanna Get That Lovin again has a Priest like opening riff and stays on that path of some of their mid to late 80s material. 

I understand the need to have ballads on these albums (at least back then, now not so much) but Girish and the boys should stick to the heavy rockers, because songs like Yesteryears, Smile Little Child (ugh), and to a lesser extent Angel are all skippable for sure and bring down the overall energy and quality of the record and putting Yesteryears and Child back to back is a terrible idea with the updated track order.

Overall, the re-imagining of Back To Earth sounds great, is still expertly played, but doesn’t really take us anywhere new that where the original brought us. I would have just as happily waited longer for some new material than have a rehash of the old, but I do have to say almost all the songs on Back To Earth rip, so that is not the issue, I am just not sure this whole thing was necessary. But if it helps to get some of these killer songs out there to a bigger audience, then I am all for it. This is an 8 for the songs and 6 for the necessity, so do the math and you see how I came up with my number. Fun album! 7/10

Arctic Rain - Unity (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]

The second album from Swedes Arctic Rain and yet again the country shows it could easily stock every single festival in the world with just bands from there. However Arctic Rain are definitely a band who tread on the AOR side of melodic rock, packing a new keyboardist and a drummer they have doubled down on the rock so they have that sunset strip strut on the title track. Everything on this album being very upbeat much like Survivor or Journey, the massive choruses of Fire In My Eyes remind me of the classic Steve Perry era. 

It's a testament to Tobias Jonsson's vocals and the interplay between the other co-founding members Pete Alpenborg and guitarist Magnus Berglund, Journey seems to be the major inspiration in both the rockers and the ballads with a good mix of both. At times it goes a little too near to the inspiration but they do bring enough of their own clout to make it their own. I enjoyed Unity but I did think it was a little too long perhaps, but the shift to a heavier output, this progressively tinged, melodic rock record is a good thing for Arctic Rain. 7/10

The Privateer – Kingdom Of Exiles (Reaper Entertainment) [David G]

The Privateer are a German five-piece specialising in that most easily of mockable styles, Pirate metal. From its humble beginnings in the speed metal of Running Wild it is interesting to see how it seems to have gained traction as an identifiable style and The Privateer seem quite adept practitioners of the style. Let’s see how many piratical and nautical references we can cram into this.

There’s a variety of styles integrated into the album, naturally pulling from folk and speed metal first and foremost, but also cannily leaning into melodic death. See, for example, the lead into the final third of The Darkest Shadow Of Life that successfully blends throat scraping vocals into a maelstrom of furious drumming and churning guitars. It’s a nice touch that fits seamlessly alongside the trad-speed riffing and Martin Walkyier-like spitting. Queen Of Fire And Wind throws in a breakdown that grinds into the dirt before unleashing the krak... melodic chorus that, whilst memorable, is not sickly sweet.

The folksy elements are strewn around the decks, Foretold Story with its acoustic intro adding that jaunty charm whereas the mid-track arpeggios bring about a maudlin reverie. By the time the violin and guitar play off each other in a short lead section that sense of adventure has been successfully conveyed. This is what I want from pirate metal, the music taking me on a fantastical voyage across the seas.

Highlight of the album is the seven-minute epic Memory Of Man, beginning with a plaintive acoustic setting and floating vocals, it builds so a gentle strum with violin accompaniment until the waving guitar lines start lapping at the ship. The melodic riff and shanty-like dual vocals eventually give way to rolling double bass and raw rasps, building up pace before crashing back down to a warm acoustic interlude. The wind is back in the sails and the pressure builds again to a blistering bit of thrashing rawness that provides wind in the sails. As the violin plays a tense melody over the layering guitars it feels like the natural gangplank to disembark from, which causes the final chanted/acoustic section to feel like unnecessary ballast.

There are only a few small holes in the hull of Kingdom Of Exiles, it takes some cues of older metal bands like Running Wild, Iron Maiden and Skyclad but has much more to offer than imitation. Maybe a few sections don’t entirely flow as one would like, it’s necessarily theatrical and maybe a bit hokey because of the space it inhabits, but it’s also surprisingly well realised and quite engrossing. The concept bleeds into the music successfully and makes for a well charted voyage. 8/10

Spell Garden - Spell Garden (Self Released) [Mark Young]

Heavy Doom, as it should be!!

At the opposite end of metal is doom, epic, sludgy and slow build riffs with the emphasis on riffs and Spell Garden possess them in spades. Daughter Of The Storm starts with some acoustic guitar which boots straight into Goddess Roots. It just moves along and grooves but isn’t overlong or overblown. At this point I should point out that I’m not big on doom so I’m a blank slate, but it is just so easy to listen to and you find yourself nodding along. And it continues in this vein, with almost trademarked Sabbath breaks which is typified in the track Spell Garden, and I think the riff lord himself would be happy with.

Lilith runs with spidery lines with an eastern motif and the vocal styles changes from traditional singing to a more black metal approach but this doesn’t seem out of place and certainly makes it standout. With the more traditional vocal, it makes the music behind seem more hypnotic in its delivery so when they cut loose with the expected solo, they it just fits, and everything just seems seamless. Mars Crimson Mountain is an exercise in how an instrumental should be written and for me if I want to learn how to play it myself then it is a winner!! Uncle Fear brings us back to normal service, with the rest of the album coming to a satisfactory end, again with some great guitar lines and final track Black Chapter just stomps on home,

One thing I couldn’t find was a social media link to them. According to some web source they are an international band with members from Argentina and Brazil and this is their first release done independently. Of the 12 songs, none are excessive and just groove along with just enough momentum to keep them from standing still. Having the two styles of vocal delivery work and keep the interest going. It is a good, solid album and fully deserving of a score to suit. 7/10