With their comeback firmly now in concrete British rock n rollers Black Spiders return with another new album. Their fourth in total and second since returning from their hiatus, Can’t Die. Won’t Die is the continuation of their story and also a motto for the band. Their self-titled third record, was there to remind you of who they were before the break, this album is them defiantly claiming that this is who they are, with a jubilant celebration of all forms of rock n roll, keeping the party alive with 11 strutting, punching, head banging rock tracks, designed to be played loud while screaming down the motorway.
Opener (after the needless Intro) Hot Wheels is exactly that kind of song, a proper radio rocker, that is the obvious choice of the first single. While Driving My Rooster manages to pair grunge with thundering blues, the lead guitars blending into the punk rock, Gene Simmons come back on Destroyer not content with trying to kill the band in their first incarnation. The Demon makes his presence felt on the heavy bass heavy strut and the chant of “Gene’s Obscene” (which is a little Faith No More) while Alright Alright Alright, which must be subtitled the Matthew McConaughey song is more fleet footed blues boogie.
So far it’s Black Spiders doing Black Spiders but Can’t Die. Won’t Die spins a wider web than before on the woozy Traitor’s Walk and the Strange having some quirky percussion (more cowbell) for a bit of desert rocking. Taking those rock sounds further than before as Make Me Bleed has bit of Def Leppard and A Rat Is A Rat the punk thunder of The Ramones.
Four albums in an Black Spider still eat thunder, shit lightning and hail, hail rock n roll, a party soundtrack if there ever was one, Can’t Die. Won’t Die has more nuance to it than that but it’s best played loud with friends (and beers). 8/10
The 69 Eyes - Death Of Darkness (Atomic Fire Records) [James Jackson]Four albums in an Black Spider still eat thunder, shit lightning and hail, hail rock n roll, a party soundtrack if there ever was one, Can’t Die. Won’t Die has more nuance to it than that but it’s best played loud with friends (and beers). 8/10
What happens when you cross the Glam Metal of Motley Crue and the Goth Rock of The Sisters Of Mercy ? The 69 Eyes, that’s what, a band who started as far back in the annals of time as 1989, in Helsinki Finland.
They’ve been a band that I’ve only ever listened to a handful of times over the years, considering my love of The Sisters Of Mercy and a brief dalliance with Motley Crue, mainly because of the film; it made sense for The 69 Eyes to appear on my musical horizons. I’ve always enjoyed it but there’s often been something else to listen to, I genre hop more frequently than I change my boxer shorts; so this is the first time that I’ve actually sat and listened to the band more intensely.
And if this is an example of what The 69 Eyes have to offer then I’ve been missing out; it’s as catchy as all hell, from the opening track Death Of Darkness, through the country sound of This Murder Takes Two featuring Kat Von D, which is probably my favourite song on an album full of solid tracks; Call Me Snake has a distinctive Billy Idol approach to it, Sundown has a feeling of The Cult to its intro, the whole album is a hook laden ode to the bands and genres that inspired the Goth N Roll title that their fans have given to their music.
And if this is an example of what The 69 Eyes have to offer then I’ve been missing out; it’s as catchy as all hell, from the opening track Death Of Darkness, through the country sound of This Murder Takes Two featuring Kat Von D, which is probably my favourite song on an album full of solid tracks; Call Me Snake has a distinctive Billy Idol approach to it, Sundown has a feeling of The Cult to its intro, the whole album is a hook laden ode to the bands and genres that inspired the Goth N Roll title that their fans have given to their music.
There’s plenty to enjoy on Death Of Darkness as it’s an album stacked with sing along choruses, gloomy melodies and Rock and Roll swagger, this one will be on repeat for some time to come. 8/10.
Bring The Hoax - Single Coil Candy (Lövely Records) [Mark Young]
And now something from the lighter side of the sonic spectrum!! Bring The Hoax, a fourpiece hailing from Sweden who have embraced the fuzzy sounds of indie-rock especially those from around the start of the 90’s, which is as good a place as any to take your influence from. Also, I don’t know if I’m reaching here but naming your album after the possible sensation that playing guitars with single coils gives you is a good start.
And it is exactly what you get, with the sound bringing forward memories of that fertile period from 89 to 92 when guitars soaked in fuzz seemed to be everywhere. It starts brightly enough with Los Angeles with a riff that could come straight out of that period its that authentic with the lo-fi theme going on and it has those little touches that show that they are serious students of that period.
Jonestown has a little bit of Ash in there and again is something that would have been on heavy rotation on alternative radio at that time, its all pretty good stuff and they weave their way through the ten songs here that all look to different bands from that period but with that summer feel to them. 1993 has that slow build chord progression going into the loud chorus which is straight from the period and is a belter, showing they have the necessary tools to open up and rock out when necessary.
The album does have that build through it as we cross the halfway point, Final Day following the good work from 1993, and Once follows this, all drums into an isolated guitar that again builds up to give it an added boost. Penultimate song, Singles has that happy vibe to it and has an everlasting summer written all over it and should go down a blast on the festival circuit. Final track Down Below closes us out with that classic slow meter and manages to finish things off strongly with a heavier passage where the fuzz is turned up a notch.
What we have here is a good set of songs, well presented and Its good that bands are looking to that part of the 90’s whilst trying to put their own stamp on things. Sometimes it acts as an audio palate cleanser from all the technical, progressive, brutal, death metal being released at present. None of the songs are overlong, and obviously if you were there at that time, they will be familiar to you.
How you enjoy this would depend on if you liked this style of music back then: if you love Pavement, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. et al, then you will find a lot to like here. Give it a whirl, they might be your new favourite band. 7/10
Heaven’s Edge - Get It Right (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]
Bring The Hoax - Single Coil Candy (Lövely Records) [Mark Young]
And now something from the lighter side of the sonic spectrum!! Bring The Hoax, a fourpiece hailing from Sweden who have embraced the fuzzy sounds of indie-rock especially those from around the start of the 90’s, which is as good a place as any to take your influence from. Also, I don’t know if I’m reaching here but naming your album after the possible sensation that playing guitars with single coils gives you is a good start.
And it is exactly what you get, with the sound bringing forward memories of that fertile period from 89 to 92 when guitars soaked in fuzz seemed to be everywhere. It starts brightly enough with Los Angeles with a riff that could come straight out of that period its that authentic with the lo-fi theme going on and it has those little touches that show that they are serious students of that period.
Jonestown has a little bit of Ash in there and again is something that would have been on heavy rotation on alternative radio at that time, its all pretty good stuff and they weave their way through the ten songs here that all look to different bands from that period but with that summer feel to them. 1993 has that slow build chord progression going into the loud chorus which is straight from the period and is a belter, showing they have the necessary tools to open up and rock out when necessary.
The album does have that build through it as we cross the halfway point, Final Day following the good work from 1993, and Once follows this, all drums into an isolated guitar that again builds up to give it an added boost. Penultimate song, Singles has that happy vibe to it and has an everlasting summer written all over it and should go down a blast on the festival circuit. Final track Down Below closes us out with that classic slow meter and manages to finish things off strongly with a heavier passage where the fuzz is turned up a notch.
What we have here is a good set of songs, well presented and Its good that bands are looking to that part of the 90’s whilst trying to put their own stamp on things. Sometimes it acts as an audio palate cleanser from all the technical, progressive, brutal, death metal being released at present. None of the songs are overlong, and obviously if you were there at that time, they will be familiar to you.
How you enjoy this would depend on if you liked this style of music back then: if you love Pavement, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. et al, then you will find a lot to like here. Give it a whirl, they might be your new favourite band. 7/10
Heaven’s Edge - Get It Right (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]
Heaven’s Edge is back! This is going to matter to a very small group of people who remember the 1990 self-titled debut from the Philadelphia, PA hard rock/hair metal (for back of a better term back then) band that then disappeared for eight years after album two was shelved amongst that cosmic shift in what music was in 1992. Their first album was certainly above average and had a pseudo hit with Skin To Skin. But for some reason this band never stuck out to me, and I found myself getting them confused with Hurricane, which was not age or substance induced, I just had trouble distinguishing them amongst the crowd of bands doing what they did back then.
Which leads me to their first album since 1998 (technically the second album was ready but shelved in 1992, so you can do the math either way) Get It Right. The new record contains all four of the surviving members of the band and a new bassist after the original passed away. Well, here we are in 2023 and we have a solid rock record that just doesn’t stand out amongst all the other bands having comebacks or never went away from that era. Sound familiar? It certainly sounds like Heaven’s Edge (I did go back and re-listen to the first record to confirm) and that is fine for those who dig the band. But there is nothing that is going to bring the casual listener back to dive deep after the first couple listens.
There are some solid (that word again) rock songs on here, like the opener, Had Enough, Raise ‘Em Up, and my favorite track, the closer I’m Not The One which has a catchy little chorus. Nothing Left But Goodbye is a nice little rocker too. The ballads struggle and seem a bit forced, especially When The Lights Go Down, and tracks like Gone, Gone, Gone are hard rock lite 1990 radio friendly second single off the album before the ballad hits the airwaves type stuff.
If you are fan, I am sure you will dig Get It Right just for nostalgic purposes. But for me, Heaven’s Edge never stood out for me back in the day, and they really did nothing here to change this. Given how some bands of that time are releasing some pretty amazing material (see the L.A. Guns, Skid Row, and the so far released tracks from the new Extreme record) Get It Right is a nice shout out to the fans that have been waiting for new stuff for years, but for the casual listener looking for something that will get them into the band this will do nothing to stand out compared to the thousands of bands releasing music out there today, even on their own label. 5/10
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