Slick heavy rock.
This certainly is an album that delivers what it says on the press release; heavy rock with a melodic edge and emotive vocals. Obviously, the recent death of front man Shaun Morgan’s brother has played a huge part in the creation of these songs so what we have is a slightly more mellow, tuneful and eclectic record than we’ve previously seen from them but still with all the essentials in place.
There’s a more varied approach to instrumentation on this record and the melodies flow in a steady stream. Seven minute tune ‘No Jesus Christ’ condenses everything about the record that stands out into one track; solid and heavy riffs, quirky tribal drumming, gruff vocals, melodic keyboards and all coated with a high sheen finish, it’s a track that’s brimming with emotion, has a very catchy chorus and crystal clear quieter sections, it could easily be a fan favourite in no time. ‘6 Gun Quota’ is an odd one • almost M.O.R. - the tune has a 60s edge and its infused with pop through and through (with a Nickleback feel), ‘Walk Away From The Sun’ is bright and breezy in approach one moment; acoustic strumming from the guitars and chords from the keyboards, but it has a melancholy turn with minor chords coming in and angst-ridden lyrics taking the lightness out and bringing on the darkness.
The album does that a lot; promises pop with melodic, catchy tunes but once it catches you it delivers a darker message and brings on the heavy guitars and screaming. It can be a dramatic and powerful approach at times • ‘Eyes Of The Devil’ keeps things interesting by turning on the doom with off key riffs, off rhythm drumming and strong vocals (even though it begins with the less than emotion filled non-rock lyrics “it irks me”), and deep, fuzzy bass and screaming on powerhouse tune ‘Fallen’ lets you know they can still do heavy when they want to and reminds you that even though much of the album is about the melodies they are still essentially a slick mainstream heavy rock band.