Times are changing!!

2013 has been a great year for BritRockArmy. 28 gigs, over 100 bands, and some absolutely amazing nights. Massive thanks must go out to all the venues I have used, Scruffy Murphys, The Flapper, The Boars Head in Kidderminster, and above all The Roadhouse in Birmingham for giving me a shot at this crazy thing!

But progress is a strange thing, and something can very often warrant change. So for this reason, things are going to be slightly different in 2014. The live events will be scaled back, although there will be a series of Boars Head Roxk Nights and, hopefully, a Battle of The Bands. The main focus of BritRockArmy will be band management, namely taking care of gigs, radio airplay, and basically anything the bands want me to do. I was really pleased with the initial response to this, and have had to pick from a great list of bands.

Over the course of the next week, I will be adding full page details of all BritRockArmy bands with links to Facebook, music, etc. For now, here's the quick version :)

The 4 bands I will be looking after are, Birmingham hard rockers Salvation. I had the pleasure of having this guys play a gig for me and they were truly awesome. Next up we have Wiltshire based heavy hitters Burnthru. Again, I was blown away by these guys when they came up to Scruffy Murphys a couple of months ago. They really destined for great things in 2014. Brothers Dan and Conor Cahalane are the driving force behind Chester alt/rockers Faltered. They head back to the studio in early 2014, to record the follow up to Fortune Favours. Last but by no means least!! Nottingham based heavy hitters Wasteland. 4 awesome bands now. 

I'm really looking forward to the future adventures, and seriously excited to be working with everyone in the future.

I will add all the info about the bands soon, dedicating a full page to each band :)

Here's to an awesome 2014! 

Album Review - Skeleton Kid - It's A Funeral, Not A Fashion Statement

I've had the pleasure of meeting Skeleton Kid on a couple of occasions, and I have to say, they're a genuinely great bunch of guys! September 22nd sees the release of their debut album, It's A Funeral Not a Fashion Statement, (in case you hadn't seen the image above, lol). Fans would argue it's been a long time coming, but believe me, it is well worth the wait, as this is a fantastic album!!

Coming in at 9 tracks and playing for just over half an hour, my only issue is its not long enough, lol!! We start things off with Goodbye. Now traditionally, the opening track of an album should set the stall for what to expect for the remainder, and Goodbye is no exception, it's an instant classic. With Timmy C and Frankie G sharing vocal duties, as they do throughout most of the album, the smoother tone of Timmy's voice making way for a Frankie's screaming chorus. But that's not the whole story! There's a neat little twist to the end of the track, and it finishes it off beautifully. On that note, I'll say no more, you'll just have to listen. You Army, has a more metal feel to the intro, but the punk influences crash right back in with Timmy and Frankie's vocals, and the song almost becomes a vocal fight between the two of them, but it's another cracking track. Going Nowhere Fast is another mix of metal/punk that keeps the pace frantic and the mood angry, the recent single Memories has had somewhat of a facelift for obvious reasons, as when it was recorded Skeleton Kid were a 4 piece. Since then, there have been personnel changes, and they have dropped to a 3 piece, losing the second guitarist and installing Josh D behind the drums. It will be obvious to fans the difference that these changes have made to not just the sound of SK, but to the whole dynamic. For what it's worth, the facelift/remixing to Memories, have made it an even better track :)

We Stand Tall, sees Frankie take the lead in the vocals. It has the kind of anthemic chorus, that in a local venue filled with adoring fans would have the whole place bouncing and shouting along. It also allows Frankie to show off his guitar skills with a cool little solo. Theres a brief respite in pace with Bones Beyond, but no respite in intensity, with almost another power struggle in the vocal department. Miles From Home, in my opinion, is the stand out track on the album. It has an almost Queenlike feel to the guitar work from Frankie, and there's a cracking solo in the mix too. The track is quite a departure from the normal punk/metal theme of the rest of the album. There's an awesome drums only chorus that sounds like a group of mates sat singing in a pub, it's just a great track and should seriously be considered for release as a single. Save Us Now (The End) takes us back to the punk roots, and theres a glimpse of some eighties influenced electronica in there too. Tear It Down, brings the album to a close, and is a menacing mixture mix of rock/punk/metal with a bit of deathcore screamo vocals thrown in for good measure. Again, Frankie shows off his guitar skills with another great solo.

It's A Funeral Not A Fashion Statement, is a great mix of different styles, with punk/metal/gothic/rock/glam all having a say somewhere along the line. The nine tracks are all release quality, with nothing in the way of fillers in sight. Fans are simply gonna love it, and I'm pretty certain it will also help the guys raise a whole new army of support.

Full Track list:
1 Goodbye
2 You Army
3 Going Nowhere Fast
4 Memories
5 We Stand Tall
6 Bones Beyond
7 Miles From Home
8 Save Us Now (The End)
9 Tear It Down

Album Review - Pain! - Waking The Dead

US dark punk rockers Pain! Have had a remarkable 2013. Besides multiple festival appearances, they have appearances with the likes of Saliva, and an opening slot for Black Veil Brides still to come.

For the Pain! Uneducated amongst us, the guys take a fusion of metal, horror punk, rock, and rockabilly, blast it out as loud as your ears can take it. They are well known in the States for high octane live performances, and are signed in the UK to horror/goth indie label Arkham Records (formerly Freaky Pug Records).

Their latest release, Waking The Dead, is a great introduction for UK fans who haven't heard any of their previous material. What you get is 11 tracks that combine rockabilly beats and instrumentals, powerful rock/metal vocals, and lyrics with a horror feel to them, with themes such as Dr Frankenstein in the album opener, through to werewolves, vampires, and other spooky offerings. 

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The thing I love most about Pain and the music, is the fact that they've swayed me to a genre of music I'd neither listened to or really had any inclination to listen to. That being said, all 11 tracks are great, fun (if that's the way to describe songs about death, burial, horror, etc) songs, that keep a merry old pace going, with no real let up in up tempo metal horror punkiness. From the opener Dr Frankenstein, with it breakneck drums, metal guitars with some pretty decent solo's thrown in. Then there's frontman, Timmy Pain's, vocals. which considering the tempo and feel to the song have a tone that although not how you would expect a metal song to sound, make no mistake, his vocals, tone and range are nothing short of phenomenal! Throughout the album, there's a mix of metal growls, more traditional rockers voice, and then there's the, almost crooner-esque vocals evident in Dr Frankenstein, Full Moon Fever, and others. Speaking of Full Moon Fever, track 3 on the album, I have to say, that it's probably my favourite track on the album, along with True Love Never Dies. That's not to say there's inferior tracks, far from it in fact, each track is worthy of release as a single. There's even a great homage to the Stephen King film, The Shining. 'Ain't no fillers on an album that's killer!!'. Whether you're a fan of metal, punk, or rock, I dare you to listen to this album and not enjoy every second of it. Now all I need is to experience their live shows! So guys, if you read this, get over to the UK!! There's a killer line up waiting for you!

 

PAIN! are:-

Timmy Pain - Vocals
Baron Von Pain -Bass
Nekro Pain - Drums
Reverend Pain - Guitar
Drako Pain - Guitar

 

Full track list for Waking The Dead:-

1 Dr Frankenstein

2 Don't Walk On My Grave

3 Full Moon Fever

4 Dancing With The Devil

5 Redrum

6 True Love Never Dies

7 You Suck

8 Horror Queen

9 Burn It Down

10 Bury Me Cold

11 Hell Of A Good Time

EP Review - Diamond Lil - Misfits of Society

If you live in Birmingham, and haven't at least seen the name Diamond Lil on a line up, poster, etc, then it's obviously Birmingham, Alabama you live in. The West Midlands rockers are more than familiar with the local scene. And with their debut EP Misfits of Society, it's not difficult to see why.
Until recently I'd not had chance to listen to it, but by god!! I've made up for it in the few weeks I've been able to. It's 5 tracks of dirty riffs, great guitar solo's, and a vocal performance from Ellis Wilde that leaves a lot of his more experienced contemporaries in the shade.

 We kick off with 'Bottom of a Glass', and a cracking little riff to get us going. Straight away, you're given an idea of the power and potential that Ellis has in is voice, with some softer vocals, but some real kickass power in the chorus. there's an awesome guitar solo half way through too, so all, it's a great start!
Track 2 has quite possibly the best song title ever, Sex Injuries, it's another cracking track, great power vocals, and more great guitars. The title track, Misfits of Society, is next, and despite the up beat nature of the track, the message it conveys is a serious one. It tells us that being different is cool, it's ok not to conform. Beautiful Nowhere is next, and it's possibly the stand out track, if there is such a thing amongst 6 amazing tracks. It's a ballad-esque track with a great smoother approach to the vocals from Ellis, but still some awesome guitar work surrounding the soft vocals. Reach is just the sort of track that, at a live show would get the crowd jumpin!! Soaring vocals, guitar solos that blow your mind, and a chorus that would get any arena pumping their fists. The EP comes to a close with Barrymore (I Want More), a great little number with a mix of soft and power vocals, pounding drums, yet more intricate guitar solos, and it's a very fitting close to what is a superb piece of work.
I was actually surprised at the quality of the EP, that's not meant in any way disrespectfully, I just didn't know what to expect, and was blown away with what I heard. It's more than worth having a listen, and you can snag yourself one from any of their gigs. They just so happen to be headlining for BritRockArmy at Scruffy Murphys on Friday October 18th!!

Full Track list
1 Bottom of a Glass
2 Sex Injuries
3 Misfits of Society
4 Reach
5 Barrymore (I Want More)

Diamond Lil are
Ellis Wilde - Vocals / Acoustic Guitar
Harry Colley - Lead Guitar
Jamie Downes - Bass
Austin Miller - Drums

Album Review - Promethium - Origins

Fans of Lancaster based hard rockers Promethium, myself included, have had to wait nearly 2 years for a second album. Well, the wait is nearly over, as October 7th will see the release of the eagerly anticipated Origins.
 After the success of their first album, Welcome to The Institution, one of my favourite independent albums, vocalist Gaz and the boys have gone back to their roots, their 'origins' if you like. The result is 10 tracks of hard hitting, smash mouth rock, with more than just a splash of metal. An album that musically sounds very different to WtTI, but still has that unmistakable Promethium sound, thanks largely to Gaz emotive vocal style. He once again manages to convey the sentiment in every song through his vocals.
The album kicks off with the cracking Won't Break Me, with a great riff and drum intro. It then breaks into frantic vocal that straight away shows the power in Gaz's voice. The driving drums and bass almost force you to nod your head in time to the song. We are also treated to a great solo from Dan, before the track is over almost as abruptly as it began.
Now if you follow the band on Twitter or Facebook, you will have seen the link to the teaser track, Gunslinger, well, this is track 2 on the album, and the relentlessness continues. Although a slower pace, the power of Gunslinger is still there in spades. The Art of Hurting and Counterfeit bring the noise in equal measure, both featuring a pounding drum and bassline, a more growling, snarling vocal from Gaz, and more great riffs and guitar work from Dan and Rossi. the next track, Rain, shows another side to Promethium, and proves that they don't always have to smack you round the face to produce kickass music. Although, to describe it as a ballad would be doing it a disservice. It's one of the stand out tracks on the album, the verses show a much smoother side to Gaz's vocals, but when the chorus kicks in, we're soon reminded that Promethium are firmly fixed in the metal bracket. The guitar work and solo again, are outstanding.
Normal service resumes with The Hunted, an out and out metal track with crashing drums, driving guitars and growling chorus. Plagued by Evil and Revolver carry on in the same vein, and Believer, with its dark religious undertones, is sure to be a crowd favourite at live events. The final track on the album is the title track, Origins. This is a complete break from the rest of the album, it's an amazing acoustic track, that you almost expect at some point to break into more metal awesomeness, but it is simply a great, sedate close to an incredible album.
What Promethium have done with Origins is nothing short of amazing. They've taken all the elements of Welcome.... and grown all of them into a giant metal monster of an album. There's simply no fillers, every one of the 10 tracks is superbly written, mixing and producing is top notch and the end result is awesome.

If you're a fan of metal, you need this album, when it's released on October 7th.

Full Track List:
1 Won't Break Me
2 Gunslinger
3 The Art of Hurting
4 Counterfeit
5 Rain
6 The Hunted
7 Plagued by Evil
8 Revolver
9 Believer
10 Origins

 Visions is taken from Promethium's first album, Welcome to The Institution.

Album Review - Faltered - Fortune Favours

After a first listen to Fortune Favours by North Wales natives, and brothers Connor and Dan Cahalane, I didn't review it straight away. You know how it is, one album comes in, then another, then a couple of singles, then the kids are ill, lol. Well now seems like the perfect time to review the long awaited debut from Faltered. 

If you've never listened to the guys before, what you have to remember is that there are only Connor and Dan recording everything. Whilst Dan takes on all the guitar duties, Conner pulls double duty as both drummer and bassist. However, the shortcomings in band members are in no way reflected in the music. What you have, is a great fuzzy mix of great guitar riffs from Dan, with some pounding drums, and some great, sometimes soulfully soft, sometimes metal screamo vocals from Connor, Please Don't Take This The Wrong Way being a great example of the smooth tones Connor has. Where the second and title track, Fortune Favours, shows aspects of the heavier side of the bands music. With the chorus being a heady mix of heavy fuzzy guitars and screamo vocals. 

The boys have been criticised lately for being out of time on some recordings and vocals being out of tune, well to this I simply say, in the immortal words, so fucking what!! The vocals may not be perfect, but they're certainly not out of tune! however, this all adds to Faltered's sound. After all, who wants to hear the same manufactured crap record after record!!? I'd far rather listen to a band who have a sound of their own!! 

This album has been on the cards for some time now, and as I mentioned, with the 2 Cahalane brothers being responsible for all instruments and vocals, they should be proud of the work they have produced. I for one was not disappointed!

Music Reviews - What's The Point

Ok, some of you may have seen the post on my personal Facebook page the other day about music reviews and the necessity to reviewers find to insult bands from a personal point of view, instead of constructively criticising the music, after all, lets face it, everyone needs some constructive criticism now and then. But when a reviewer uses their position to do nothing other than slaughter a band and where they come from, that's bullshit!

The reason I do reviews is twofold. Firstly it's my blog and I'll do what I like, lol. Just kidding, I review music because I bloody enjoy it, it's been a long time since I've done any form of writing, so to do something I enjoy about something I have a huge interest in, it's a big winner on my part. Secondly, it's to get some brilliant music out to an even wider audience. I'd like to think that I've had a little influence on encouraging people to listen music they wouldn't necessarily have listened to. I've never had any negative feedback about any of the reviews I've done, and I'd like to think that if I'd either upset or offended any of the bands I've reviewed, they'd tell me :) The purpose of reviewing is to cast my opinion on the music that is sent to me, not to bash the bands. Now some people might think it weird that, if you read my reviews, I always say how good everything is. Now, sure people could say I'm just being nice, but what would be the point in that? Why would I say something is great if it isn't? I've listened to some albums that haven't been my cup of tea, and I've said it, but that doesn't make them bad albums! Just because an album might not be to your taste, doesn't give you the right to slag it off!!

I will remain to be honest with the reviews I do. It would seem as though there are reviewers out there who don't believe in that philosophy, which is a big shame.