Reviews: Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse, Korpiklaani, Alpha Wolf, Friends Of Hell (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse - Hot Nostalgia Radio (Grow Vision Music & Records)

Roots rock band Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse are based in California and my do they sound like it. Their music is eclectic, shifting from various genres Their style is a mixture but there's Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Electric Six, The Tragically Hip, The Trews and lots more. Buckets of 12 bar blues, some country swagger and glorious rock n roll, it's like a Tarantino movie score. From the rollicking boogie of Oh Yeah! to the folksy travelling anthem of Let’s Ride, this is definitely a record built around nostalgia but with a 21st Century attitude. 

Their last album was released in 2019 so they’ve had four years to record this one and singer/songwriter Greta Valenti (aka Beaux Gris Gris), has been sitting on these tracks and ventured out to make an album of 3-4 minute pop songs to make you joyful, whether it’s the empowering fuzz stomp of Wild Woman or the Zeppelin-stomp of Satisfy Your Queen, the B-52’s Surf rock of I Told My Baby, the New Orleans blues of All I Could Do Was Cry or the folky Marie, the band can turn their hand to any sort of blue collar music style. 

A high level of musicianship comes here, with parping horn arrangements from Daniel Kirkpatrick on Middle Of The Night, Stephen Mildwater (bass) and Tom Rasulo (drums) form a solid foundation whatever the style, focussing the grooves on Sad When I’m Dancing but bringing the pulse to ballads such as The Runaway and rockers like I Told My Baby. The highest kudos go to Robin Davey’s incredibly varied guitar sound, peeling off soulful solos on Penny Paid Rockstar and strutting riffs across 14 songs while Sam Robertson’s keys too are varied be it the rollicking piano on the bluesy rockers, the 80’s synths on Harder To Breathe or the Fender Rhodes/Hammonds on Don’t Let Go. 

Greta though is the star with wide vocal range, part rockstar, part preacher, both namesake and talisman, Greta (Beaux) stamps her seal all over this album. Officially released next month, the album was leaked by the band so fans could listen to it before their upcoming tour. I suggest you do as Hot Nostalgia Radio could well be one of the pop rock records of the year. 9/10

Korpiklaani – Rankarumpu (Nuclear Blast)

Seeing as nearly all of my MoM colleagues have an aversion to folk metal, some of them quite violently, I find myself yet again reviewing an album by Korpiklaani. How I do this without just saying “sounds like Korpiklaani” is a hard task but with journalistic integrity I have to at least try. 

Seemingly releasing albums just as an excuse to play more festival dates in front of inebriated festival goers, Korpiklaani’s newest album, their twelfth, throws back to the faster sound they had in the mid 2000’s, founding member Jonne Järvelä (vocals/guitar) feeling that they had maybe slowed down on the last few albums so decided that this one was going to be an up tempo, joyous record with emotional moments such as Viikatelintu but mostly its galloping Finnish folk metal created to pay tribute to the gods and the natural world around them, and of course what would a Finnish band be without a song dedicated to a Sauna (Saunaan). 

Järvelä is supported in this wild folk explorations by guitarist Cane, bassist Jarkko Aaltonen, drummer Samuli Mikkonen, accordionist Sami Perttula and new member, ex-Turisas violinist Olli Vänskä, who alongside Perttula puts his virtuoso stamp all over this twelfth album, the writing prowess of reasonably new drummer Samuli Mikkonen cannot be understated as Jonne says “he has brought a huge amount of new energy to the whole group”. This record also sees Jonne returning to writing lyrics after a long while so there’s lots of Norse myths, forest tales and of course drinking, the landscape of Finland a direct inspiration. 

For anyone who thinks Korpiklaani lost their way a little, Rankarumpu is a record full of full pelt jigs ripe for party season. Kippis! 8/10

Alpha Wolf – Half Living Things (Sharptone Records)

Right here we go then. More ultra-modern, ultra-aggressive, ultra-savage metal from Down Under. Becoming more known for beatdowns and breakbeats than bar room boogies and pub rocking, Australia has been the home of some of the biggest ‘core’ bands on the scene today, shamelessly taking inspiration from Nu-metal, hardcore, metalcore and death metal, but just doing it louder and more savagely, bands such as Alpha Wolf have been making waves for a number of years. 

Scottie Simpson (guitar), Sabian Lynch (guitar), Lochie Keogh (vocals), John Arnold (bass) and Mitch Fogarty (drums) are Alpha Wolf and on this third album they make some of the most brutal noises of their career, if Slipknot jammed with Bring Me The Horizon and Meshuggah, you’d get what Alpha Wolf do. The BMTH style inspires the atmospheric Whenever You’re Ready, while Double Edged Demise and Pretty Boy has the frenzied blasts of the Iowa legends. 

There’s little chance to catch your breath, Alpha Wolf punish you with their attack, bringing in Ice T to spit some venom on Sucks 2 Suck, surprisingly sounding like Body Count. A Terrible Day For Rain explodes out of the speakers with the metallic dissonance of a band such as Gojira as the title track has the most hardcore style to it. 

While not really my thing on the whole, Half Living Things has some variation to it that saves it from being another metal/death/core clone, from the angular Bring Back The Noise to the cathartic Ambivalence, Alpha Wolf continue to position themselves towards the top of the Aussie heavy scene. 8/10

Friends Of Hell – God Damned You To Hell (Rise Above Records)

Founded by drummer Tasos Danazoglou (March To Die, Mirror, Satan's Wrath, ex-Electric Wizard), vocalist Albert Witchfinder (ex-Reverend Bizzare) and named after a Witchfinder General album, Friends Of Hell formed in 2021, they released their first album of disgustingly retro occult/blasphemous doom in 2022, aided in their quest for corruption by bassist Taneli Jarva and guitarist Jondix, they now return to drag you down to hell again through classic heavy doom. 

There has been a few changes as Albert has been replaced behind the mic by Per “Hellbutcher” Gustavsson (Dead Kosmonaut), with Beelzeebubth (Mystifier) and Nikolas “Spirits” Moutafis (Hardraw, March To Die, Mirror, Solitary Sabered) both added on guitar. It means that Bringer Of Evil and Snakes Not Sons can have lots of guitar harmonies and acoustics, on top of the classic doom riffing, Ave Satananas, for instance will be tickling Rise Above owner Lee Dorrian’s doom muscle. 

Hellbutcher’s histrionic vocals are an ideal fit, dramatic and theatrical there’s links to Hell, Cathedral, Pentagram, Pagan Altar, Angel Witch and of course Sabbath, on every Satan praising, hellraising epic doom metal cut. The production is analogue, like a vinyl, it’s warm and a little with some loss but, it’s just what the music needs. Classic Priest is all over the snarling Let The Devil Take You Away while Cross Inverter just reeks of Sabbath. Any fans of epic/classic/NWOBHM/doom will find so much to love here. 

Play loud, Hail Satan and become Friends Of Hell. 8/10