Reviews: Vitskär Süden, Troy Redfern, Freedom, Darko (Reviews By Rich Piva, Paul Scoble, Paul Hutchings & GC)

Vitskär Süden - Vessel (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]

When you hear a band has a “Dungeons and Dragons” theme to their music, where does your head go? Probably not to a dark and beautiful place like Vitskär Süden takes you with their output, and there may not be anything more dark and beautiful right now that their new record, Vessel. This is heavy stuff. Not heavy in the normal meaning from a band that the awesome Ripple Music releases. This is heavy in a bleak, atmospheric and sparce sort of way. It’s not the riffs that get you on Vessel, it is the vibe, the darkness, and the cold feeling that this record leaves with you, in the best sort of way.

There is nothing remotely metal or stoner rock on vessel. I guess you could go doom here, but more like Nick Cave finally figuring out he should have done doom records all along. Or how about dark prog? Bleak psych maybe? I mean the opening track, Vengeance Speaks, with the sparce opening and added synths and background vocals, it is just next level bleakness and I am so here for it. Martin Garner’s vocals have grown so much and is now one of my favourite voices is rock today. 

Those synths I mentioned drive R’lyeh, an awesome song with a cool riff that goes nicely with the frantic baseline and pairs nicely with the synth work. I love the subtle sounds added to the track and those vocals are so great too. Vessel Through Tunnels They Move has an almost Middle East vibe to it, especially in the guitar work. This track is simply beautiful and incorporates all of the goodness the band brings to Vessel, this one lead by the sparce but simple and effective guitar parts throughout the song. 

More darkness envelops you on Hidden By The Day. I love the addition of the acoustic guitar and piano to the mix on this one bringing more of those Nick Cave vibes I mentioned earlier. I could see the goth kids from my high school back in the day getting behind this one too (compliment), especially with the cello sounding synth chimes in. Tattered Sails is the slowest of the slow burns and incorporates more of the psych aspects of the band, especially in the guitar work. 

Did I mention bleak in this review before? Well check out Everyone, All Alone for even more of it. Closing with what is pretty much a piano driven ballad is probably a first on a Ripple release but boy oh boy does it work here. These vocals are just next level.

If the D&D aspect of the band has kept you from listening to Vitskär Süden, you need to get over yourself quickly and check out the beautiful bleakness of Vessel. Trust me, you will not even get a whiff of the stuff while experiencing the gorgeous doomy psych prog the band has perfected. 9/10

Troy Redfern – Invocation (RED7 Records) [Paul Scoble]

Troy Redfern is quickly becoming one of the biggest noises on the British blues rock scene. Troy has been making music for well over ten years and has also released material under The Troy Redfern Band moniker. Troy’s last album was 2022’s The Wings Of Salvation. The style on Invocation is Blues Rock with a definite Boogie feel to a lot of the material. There is a lot of rock and roll swagger and in the odd place a little bit of late eighties / early nineties rock, and maybe even a little bit of seventies glam rock. 

The album kicks off with the song The Strange, a great piece of bouncy boogie at a fast-walking pace. The verse has a purposeful stomp, whilst the singalong chorus is full of energy. Next comes Getaway, a very tight, funky rocker with a rock and roll chorus and a very good solo, the song has a great driving fast ending. The next track is Van Helsing, another up-tempo rock track with a minimal and very controlled Verse, and a pounding and almost aggressive chorus that releases all the tension that has built up during the Verse in a way that feels explosive. The song also has another really good solo, the one on Van Helsing just soars, and is perfect for the song. The next track is the first blues ballad on the album; The Calling. 

The Calling is a great melodic ballad with some superb slide guitar playing and an absolutely anthemic chorus. The next song is Native, and it is a very interesting song. If you plotted a graph of the songs intensity it would form a shape like a mountain or an inverted V. The song starts very minimal and it slowly builds in intensity, peaking roughly half way though, with a section that is big, loud and dramatic and includes a really great guitar solo. The song then ebbs away, dropping back to the minimal sound from the beginning. The song builds from nothing to huge proportions, and then collapses back. After Native, comes The Fever. 

The Fever is a great piece of bluesy rock with some great slide guitar, the chorus is nice and powerful, and the awesome guitar solo features slide and shredding. All Night Long is an absolute blast of rock and roll with great energy, a brilliant chorus and yet another stunning solo, this song is so much fun! After the energy packed brilliance of All Night Long Troy goes for a ballad as any kind of up-tempo song would seem bland at this point. Blind Me is a big blues ballad with lots of slide guitar, the chorus is very emotive, and the song has the feel of a piece of Late Fifties or early Sixties pop, there is also a slight country twang to the song. 

Voodoo Priestess is a stunning piece of sleazy rock and roll with loads of slide, an awesome chorus and the perfect foot tapping, head nodding, fist pumping tempo. Next comes Take Me High, a relaxed blues rock / rock and roll with an awesome chorus (have I mentioned how good the choruses are?). Invocation comes to an end with the appropriately titled song The Last Stand. A taut piece of blues rock with a measured verse and a bigger but relaxed chorus, the slide guitar solo is haunting and memorable, and makes the song a great way to end the album. 

Invocation is a great album. It’s full of a really great energy that makes the fast rockers crackle with vigour and zeal and fills the ballads with emotion. The guitar work on the album is nothing short of spectacular, but that is what Troy is known for, I was also very impressed by his vocal performance which is pretty much just as good. I loved all the choruses on the album, they get stuck in your head very quickly and stay. Most of all this album is a blast of great fun from start to finish, the only thing you’ll feel sad about is when the album ends. 9/10

Freedom – Stay Free! (Wild Kingdom) [Paul Hutchings]

Plenty of melody, harmonies, and Americana in this second album by the retrospective sounding Freedom. Formed in 2019, their live show is rumoured to be anthemic, uplifting and a joy to the soul. Described as a ‘bargain basement Springsteen’, anyone who caught the Boss on his recent tour of UK stadiums is likely to be up for some of this punchy, classic Rock n Roll. Stay Free follows on from the self-titled debut record, and it’s the first with the revamped line up which now includes Ola Göransson (Heavy Feather, Stacie Collins) and Matte Gustafsson (In Solitude, Siena Root, Heavy Feather) alongside Mange Monroe and Magnus Laver. 

Anthemic, uplifting, Freedom rightly don’t claim to reinvent the wheel, for that would be too bold a statement for an album steeped in those early influences. There are bits of Tom Petty, Eagles, and even The Gaslight Anthem in parts. A heady ten tracks that move from the up-tempo opening song Tonight through to the slow drawl of closing song Generation, with its laid-back vibe, there’s certainly an enjoyable experience lurking here if you want some guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll. The music is rich, excellently crafted, and has a polished finish that doesn’t over gloss the sound. 

There’s saxophone in Eye Of The Storm and Love Reaction which add class and depth, whilst every song provides a catchy undertone that you can’t but help nodding along with. With a fine production that enhances the harmonies and crisp vocals, and an overall tone that brings a smile to the face, this is music that the band rightly describe as music to follow you through thick and thin, far into those never-ending summer nights. Whilst summer nights in the UK may not be quite as inviting as they once were, Freedom’s approach is certainly reminiscent of good times and good memories. 7/10

Darko - Greyscale (Lockjaw Records) [GC]

Before I begin, I need to clear up some initial confusion from my end. This new EP Greyscale is by UK hardcore punk band Darko and has nothing to do with the US deathcore band Darko, which is a relief because they are shit! Anyway, Darko (UK) have been knocking about for 10 or so years and have a few EPs and an album behind them already. 

It all starts in a very subtle and subdued way on What I Cannot Be but that doesn’t last long before some raucous and rowdy hardcore punk spin kicks its way into your presence then batters you around the chops repeatedly and before you know its all over and Built On Broken Wings then throws a definite nod to early Taking Back Sunday but with more a much more punk attitude and less of the emo whining and while it does all have a very post-hardcore feel to it they never lose their edge throughout. 

Aggro falls directly into Comeback Kid territory and really packs a punch as the title of the song would suggest, the main thing I have noticed so far about the songs are the varying styles of vocals, there are 4 members listed as doing vocals and every single one has a different style so therefore the music changes to try and match the chosen vocalist at that time and while sometimes this may help, here it tends to makes things sound a bit muddled in places, especially the grunting death metal vocals? 

Aux II for the first time carries the hardcore theme directly into the next track and also starts with aforementioned out of place DM vocals when the more HC style vocals kick in it all makes much more sense and sounds more coherent, maybe it looks/sounds good live but here it just fells all over the place, when they do find a groove its all works so well and sounds positive and uplifting but then they mix the styles up to please all 4 vocalists and lose all momentum. 

Anyway I’m already onto the last track Lowest Hanging Fruit that has more of the urgent post-hardcore from earlier and when they play this it’s an absolute pleasure to listen to because its focused and laser sharp and uplifting like it should be and this song is a perfect exercise on focusing on what you do best and also annoying as I wish the rest of the EP sounded like this because if it had their score would have been so much higher. 

Having been around for as long as they have, I would have expected Darko to have a more defined style but to me here it seems like they are still trying to find a sound? When they concentrate on the post-hardcore/punk they sound brilliant and life affirming but they then try and throw all sorts of other things in that just makes everything sound like they are trying way too much for their own good! 6/10