I Walk The Line
I Walk The Line are a five piece punk rock outfit from Finland, who are set to release this, their third album “Black Wave Rising” on May 19th. The band was formed from the best bits of other Finnish punk bands and brought together a group of people who all shared a love for bands such as The Clash, Social Distortion, and Murder City Dolls.
Black Wave Rising is an 11 track album crammed with punk anthems, bursting with the bands own style. Despite their influences being highly noticeable within their music style, the sound they create is still fresh with its unforgiving guitar sounds and the incorporation of a 60’s organ, which adds another dimension to their punk sound.
Songs such as “Black Wave” and “Demonic verses” offer sing along choruses and make the band’s music accessible and catchy. This is something the band does very well, providing catchy hooks in their songs to hypnotise the listener and leave you singing the song for days.
Ville’s vocals are strong throughout and are typically punk sounding with a raw, raspy edge. This combined with frequent harmonies shows a tight band with a knack for song-writing. The album itself is also recorded to sound like a typical punk record with its dirty and gritty sound throughout. This all adds to the intensity of the music and the meaning of the songs.
The band changes the tempo of various songs throughout to keep things interesting and provide a new angle. “Fire, Be My Guide” is an example of a slightly slower track which despite its slower nature, still makes you want to listen.
Although this album contains good solid tracks, which are well recorded, and well delivered, I was left wanting more at the end. I personally feel that this band have more to offer. They have an accessible album here which is good, but maybe they are playing a little on the safe side, and not stretching themselves to find new sounds or directions.
This raucous punk band from Finland certainly provides a strong album here with a selection of songs which bruise and batter the senses with fast paced yet melodic punk prowess. But is there a little bit more that they can offer? I Walk the Line are set to accompany the release of “Black Wave Rising” with a European tour sometime this year and numerous festival appearances this summer.