Sondura will have you speechless from start to finish.
Hard rock band Sondura is here to pack a punch with their album ‘Live Before You Die’. Featuring breathtaking guitar shredding, technical drumming, thundering bass lines and seriously kick-ass vocal performances (the mix of singing and roaring is so effective and really emphasises the emotional highs of each song), the album will have you speechless from start to finish.
Themes covered on the album are varied and of course are portrayed using Sondura’s unique way with words. Ranging from urges to make the most of this life to love and heartbreak, listeners will have no trouble relating to these songs, there’s something here for everyone.
The only ballad on the album comes courtesy of track 5, ‘Falling Free’, a beautiful part-acoustic track that strips the band to the bones and shows just how talented they are. The song provides a wonderful insight into the band’s softer side. On the flipside, ‘Fake’ is probably the most aggressive track on the album, with a dark, increasingly violent melodic contribution as well as graphic lyrics such as “Fake! Fake! How much can you take? In the end I want to see you dying”.
My favourite tracks of the album were opening self-titled track ‘Live Before You Die’, which is inspiring enough to make even the most miserable person out there get off their ass and do something fulfilling, and following track ‘Scars’, which opens with some tasty harmonised guitar melodies.
Sondura have managed something that very few bands achieve; they have produced a full-length album where every track is as desirable as the last; there is no filler here, just good, pure hard rock music that you will want to hear over and over again.
I was lucky enough to catch Sondura at the recent Hammerfest II festival in North Wales where the guys wowed the previously lethargic crowd. Upon hearing this album, I think Sondura have proven that they are a force to be reckoned with both on disc and in the flesh; this band could soon be unstoppable! If they get the break they so desperately deserve, they could be huge.
I would like to thank Sondura for giving me a copy of this album as it’s fast becoming one of my favourites (I love this job)!
Sondura is made up of vocalist and guitarist Tom Watson along with his brother guitarist and vocalist Jack Watson, drummer Fred Green and bassist Steve Dillon.