Reviews: Robert Jon & The Wreck, Enter Shikari, Ulvedharr, Mike Tramp (Reviews By Matt Bladen, GC, James Jackson & Rich Piva)

Robert Jon & The Wreck - Live At The Ancienne Belgique (Journeyman Records) [Matt Bladen]

Released on Joe Bonamassa's Journeyman Records, Live At The Ancienne Belgique is the first concert flim/album from Southern rockers and roadhogs Robert Jon & The Wreck. A band who seem to be constantly on tour, this live album has been on the cards for a long time, the CD/DVD package capturing then during their most recent marathon slog across Europe. A triumphant celebration of their last decade as a band the setlsit spanned all their records, frontman Robert Jon Burrison leading his band of troubadours through the evolved live versions of their songs, the limits of playing on stage meaning that these songs are much heavier and tougher on this record.

The CD features a keyboard and guitar solo spot but you'll have to get the DVD to see the drum solo, thankfully the audio only portion has most of their biggest songs kicking out the jams with The Devil Is Your Only Friend as they lead the Belgian crowd through a strong middle section of Hey Hey Mama, early single Blame It On The Whiskey, the soulful duo of Oh Miss Carolina and Tired Of Drinking Alone wedged between the two solo sections. The addition of Jake Abernathie on keys brings a wider dynamic on stage especially on Shine A Light On Me Brother (one of my favourites). It's a great set from these veterans of the scene, the DVD giving you more tracks and the full visual experience of what RJ&TW do.

You'll get to see them soon enough I'm sure, as like I said they are constanly on tour but until then you can indulge in the RJ&TW experience with this excellent live recording. 8/10

Enter Shikari - A Kiss For The Whole World SO Recordings) [GC]

Enter Shikari have been around forever and until this very day I have managed to hear not one second of any of their music, I think I was always put off by the state of the fans they had, I mean they were peak emo, and I was NOT! Anyway, A Kiss For A Whole World is their seventh album and has been tagged as dance metal, so on that note let’s have a listen a see what they have to offer (Sighs heavily and presses play).

First song and title track sounds like a national anthem to begin with before some electronic beats and bouncy riffs appear from nowhere before its back to national anthem territory and its back and forth between this for most of the song and I’m not sure what this even is, like if Panic! At The Disco decided to try something ‘’heavy’’ maybe? Don’t know, I’m confused already if I am honest, (pls) Set Me On Fire has a techno/dance intro and the verse itself is a sparse and electronic before they try to produce a big singalong chorus that falls flat and again, I feel a bit confused are they trying to create a huge sound or temper it and create a sparse soundscape? Whatever they are trying to do it isn’t working so far.

It Hurts does have a bit more about it and has some nice rave beats and the whole sound of the song carries nicely throughout and offers the first actual decent bit of material so far and has an almost beatdown type of section if you can have a dance beatdown? Leap Into The Lightning is another heavily dance infused song and is actually pretty decent too, it builds and creeps up on you and before you know it the big chorus they have been searching for is here and it almost works well but I just feel there is something not quite there I expect it to explode into life but it doesn’t really and its all a bit underwhelming to be honest.

Next, it’s a bit of drum and bass in the shape of interlude Feed Your Soul and usually I’m not here for this type of stuff but it fits well here and leads nicely into Dead Wood which is stripped right back and has an orchestral back drop lead nicely by a great vocal performance that doesn’t really come to life until right at the end and when it does, its done beautifully and really pick the whole feel and energy up and is easily the best song so far. I then expect Jailbreak to continue with tis sort of uplift and it does with a nice turn of pace that has peaks and troughs that keep you interested enough throughout until the urgent and thrilling end section.

Bloodshot starts off as a full-on dance track in the vein of early Prodigy and it kind of gets a bit ruined when they change the sound and it drags its feet and doesn’t really build on the early promise Bloodshot (Coda) is another interlude and this one is pintless and adds nothing before Goldfish has another sparse and empty verse that is promising to build up to something and it keeps building and building but ultimately doesn’t produce the expected big payoff and it’s just sort of there for the sake of it.

Giant Pacific Octopus (I Don’t Know You Anymore) wins the award for stupidest song title and towards the end of the album you might expect some sort of rousing send off? You almost get it in places in the song but parts of it are just flat and boring and the mix of dynamics doesn’t work there’s then a little segue into Giant Pacific Octopus Swirling Off Into Infinity which just ends the whole thing on a sad little whimper really.

Going into this I wasn’t really expecting that much, which is handy because that is exactly what I got! There was some ok dance infused rock music and when they hit a groove they ride it fairly well but, for me the whole album was just a bit too all over the place, its fine to experiment and use different sounds but really this album does nothing for me, I am sure it won't stop Enter Shikari but it also won't convince me to listen to this again or lure me into to their back catalogue either. 5/10

Ulvedharr - Inferno XXXIII (Scarlet Records) [James Jackson]

Well this hits you straight in the face as soon as the opening riff of A Full Reload Of Fear kicks in and it doesn’t let up, Ulvedharr are described as being Death/Black Metal but there’s a very Thrash element too, some of the riffs on this song and as I listened throughout, are reminiscent of Trivium. When most Metal tracks are ramping it up to give you one last kick in the teeth, A Full Reload Of Fear takes a slower approach and devolves into an almost acoustic sound before the head nodding intro of Wasteland takes over.

One of the things that has put me off of Death and Black Metal over the years is the relentless barrage of noise that doesn’t deviate from that “hit it and hit it fast until we die” approach that is so common in both genres. Ulvedharr however seem to know that a kick in the teeth is often more effective when less expected and there are some nice variations in tempo that allow the following assault to hit even harder, Revenge Loop has a great example of this.

There’s a cracking riff in Dagon that reminds me of Fear Factory, a tight snare rattle (I don’t know the correct term) into a groove that’s blink and you miss it, which is a shame because it’s pretty good and I’d have liked to have heard it played out a bit fuller. The rest of the album is more of the same, it’s competent in its presentation; the Death and Black Metal aspects at times accentuated by the more groove led, changes in tempo that make it stand out from other albums of a similar ilk that I’ve heard recently.

The only shock track on the album is closing number, Oblivion; it’s opened by an acoustic guitar, and builds, adding a guitar solo and just when you expect the thrash of drums to drop…. It ends. Whilst this isn’t an album that I’ll play again it was refreshing to hear something that was not afraid to slow it down, that knows the importance of a different approach to the same old format. 6/10

Mike Tramp - Songs Of White Lion (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]

Ever since hearing about Mike Tramp redoing all his White Lion classics on his new record, Songs Of White Lion, the only question in my head was: Why? Okay maybe two questions: Is this at all necessary? I’ll answer the second question first. No, this was not necessary. The answer to the first question could be many different ones, and some very cynical ones as well. But I have always loved these songs as a long-time fan, so let’s see where this takes us, shall we?

Well, this is absolutely unnecessary and of such lesser quality to the originals. I mean Little Fighter I didn’t love when it came out but grew to appreciate it. I always thought that the album Big Game lacked energy and could have been better sped up a couple of notches but now a song that needed energy before has been neutered even more. Mike’s voice is struggling, case in point Broken Heart.  Yikes. And talk about taking the energy out of a song. 

Love Don’t Come Easy is one of my all-time favorite White Lion songs, and I had to turn it off halfway through so it would not ruin my memories of when I was in my bedroom in high school blasting Mane Attraction. Classics like Wait (very bad), Tell Me, and Hungry fair no better than the others. I feel like Mike could have just re-released a redo of When The Children Cry as a single and tried to cash in that way rather than craping all over the legacy of some classic tracks and memories of fans who love these songs. I will say his band is pretty tight, but that is as much as I can say positive.

Look, I want artists to make money and cash in on their life’s work, but there must be a better way Songs Of White Lion. Mike Tramp’s effort here seems to be at Don Dokken level of apathy (I hope I am wrong and maybe his voice is just aging, but…) and this was one hundred percent unnecessary. One point for the great songs that were attempted to be reworked here and one point for the band, but minus a billion for this idea and the execution. 2/10