Argus - From Fields of Fire (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.argusmetal.com/

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Written by Jason Hillenburg, posted by blog admin

The long wait for the fourth full length album from Pennsylvania’s Argus, From Fields of Fire, hasn’t diluted or lessened its eventual impact. From Fields of Fire’s nine songs bristle with life and inventiveness, never feeling too belabored or studied as if the band’s new lineup is straining to maintain any creative direction. Argus, instead, sounds confident and comfortable but, more importantly, hungry and ambitious to push their music into new areas while consolidating their traditional strengths. There isn’t a single disappointing release in the band’s discography and, if anything, the fourth album continues an upward tick in quality that’s defined their development from the first.

The album opens with a brief acoustic instrumental “Into the Fields of Fire”. There’s a hint of the gypsy in the almost flamenco-ish swish of the melody, but there’s an underlying minor key quality present as well. “Devils of Your Time” has a nicely exhortative chorus that makes the song seem ideally suited for live performance and tasteful lead fills pepper the guitars’ otherwise straight-forward staccato power chord charge. There’s a seemingly a little echo added to Brian “Butch” Balich’s vocal, but Balich never needs even a hint of bells or whistles as he still possesses the emotive edge and lights out, lung-busting vocal muscle that’s always been a key part of his presentation. Balich comes at listeners again with another bruising vocal on “As a Thousand Thieves” and fiery lead guitar punctuates his powerhouse singing. “You Are The Curse”, the album’s first single, has some of the strongest melodic elements on the album and a near ideal example of Balich’s talent for putting down a tight, intelligent lyric serving the music first and foremost.

“Infinite Lives, Infinite Doors”, clocking in at just over eleven minutes, definitely embodies the zenith of their ambition with this new release. The disparate sections of the song, often wildly varying in both mood and tempo, nonetheless blend seamlessly together and maintain coherence throughout. Bands often times sound out of their element when they trying stretching out like this, but this song comes across as a wholly organic affair rather than an unit attempting to will an epic into being. The blinding guitar attack of Jason Mucio and Dave Watson is set to stun throughout the release and few songs are loaded with more gut wrenching firepower than “Hour of Longing”. Balich serves up one of his stronger vocals to make this one of the album’s harder-hitting numbers. “No Right to Grieve” is cut from similar cloth as “Infinite Lives, Infinite Doors” in its insistence on invoking mood and atmosphere rather than simply bulldozing listeners with further guitar workouts. Balich’s imaginative touch as a lyricist remains an important component in the band’s songwriting, but the songs on From Fields of Fire are rife with an increased willingness to personalize the writing as never before. It pays off enormously in the hands of such a memorable vocalist. They bookend the album with a final acoustic track entitled “From the Fields of Fire” that comes off as a more muted, wearier take on the opening instrumental. Argus has emerged from a turbulent period in their history stronger than ever before and taking their craft to new heights.

Gregg Stewart - Twenty Sixteen (2017)

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Written by William Elgin, posted by blog admin

There’s a generosity in this album that’s difficult to ignore. The fourteen songs comprising Gregg Stewart’s Twenty Sixteen are an unexpected musical bounty in terms of the sheer quantity of first rate music he’s bringing to the listening public. The fact that these are covers doesn’t matter. He’s made his selections from artists who died during 2016 and the choices range from the well known to lesser known deep cuts from an artist’s career. Stewart, a talented singer/songwriter in his own right, sounds wholly comfortable tackling other artist’s material and puts as much of himself into the arrangements and lyrics alike he can muster. It’s unified by a guitar centered sound and an ease with melody unmatched by all but a few of his contemporaries. Despite its status as indie rock, Gregg Stewart projects immense confidence with this collection and the production never sounds anything less than top shelf from the beginning.

The mid eighties smash for Dead or Alive and singer Pete Burns, “You Spin Me Round”, opens Twenty Sixteen on a mildly idiosyncratic note. Anyone expecting Stewart to attempt an approximation of the band and Burns’ style is in for a fortuitous disappointment.  It’s fortuitous because Stewart’s cover of the famous song is far more interesting than any straight ahead regurgitation could have ever been. Rather than pursuing a relentless and nearly claustrophobic pop sound, Stewart takes an acoustic slant on this classic and gives it an understated mania that’s quite a contrast with the original. This isn’t the first cover of “Raspberry Beret” that I can recall, Warren Zevon and REM sans Michael Stipe had a minor hit with it in 1990 as the Hindu Love Gods, but Stewart brings his own carefree, joyful verve to the song that no one else can claim. The artists with staying power are those with a recognizable style and that shines through on this album despite him tackling other’s songs.

His cover of a later Merle Haggard song, “If I Could Only Fly”, comes off as a minor masterpiece of exquisite sensitivity and expertly arranged. He mines Jefferson Airplane’s embryonic days, pre Grace Slick, with the track “High Flying Bird” as an acknowledged of rhythm guitarist.songwriter/vocalist Paul Kantner’s death and the passing of original female vocalist for the same Singe Anderson. This performance does a memorable job of capturing the sense of discovery common to classic Airplane and the sheer exuberance of playing. He looks to Texan songsmith Guy Clark for a powerful rendition of his “Out in the Parking Lot”. Stewart’s phrasing is key here as its similarities and differences alike reveal how elastic this classic is and makes something new out of a song many serious music fans are intimately familiar with. He concludes, as one might expect, with a Bowie cover, but the song choice is a bit individualistic. Rather than opting for the obvious, Stewart chooses “Starman”. It isn’t an enviable task attempting to re-interpret a master stylist, but Stewart wisely doesn’t and merely uses Bowie’s original as a template for his own. Twenty Sixteen is far more than some reverential ode to fallen musical idols – it’s an argument successfully concluded that these performers, among some of the most talented in the past century, have amassed legacies worth posterity’s look and that we’ve taken more than a passing glance into the heart of Gregg Stewart’s musical DNA. It’s a rewarding view.  .

Grace Freeman - Shadow (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.gracefreeman.net/

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Written by Jason Hillenburg, posted by blog admin

Grace Freeman is an artist who immediately impresses as a talent with confidence and a skill set far beyond her nineteen years. One shouldn’t lightly throw terms like “prodigy” around, but it’s apparent upon encountering Grace Freeman’s music that you’re contending and being entertained by a truly special voice – both as a singer and songwriter. She exercises command and care over the material on her solo debut Shadow that outstrips what we’ve heard from her peers and touches on avowed influences like Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor, The Cure, and The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, among others, while retaining an instantly identifiable musical, lyrical, and vocal identity. The eleven songs included on the release are reflective, as well, of the exponential growth in her talent since she first began writing songs at age ten and performing at open mics by age thirteen. She’s learned her artistic lessons so far and the future seems boundless based on this offering.

“Oliver” is a muted and deeply meditative opener. The production multi-tracks Freeman’s voice at select points and it accentuates the natural ethereal lilt in her voice without ever risking self-indulgence. The guitar work is understated and weaves throughout its duration with eloquent fluency. Freeman’s title song is built around piano instead of acoustic guitar and the arrangement is nearly as spartan. Bringing drumming into the song imbues it with a much more dramatic quality and it’s further testimony to the depths of her talent that, at even such a young age, she’s able to bring this sort of feel off without succumbing to the purple, overwrought hand of youth. The near shuffle jaunt of “Trying to Say Goodbye” tempers its melancholy sentiments in a significant and artful way and there’s a lightly playful quality in her vocal that never undercuts the seriousness of the song. She comes across with such cool confidence, wearing each song like a loose garment, and the emotive connection she establishes with each track makes it a more memorable listening experience.

Her voice has a smokier feel on the song “Another Long Night” and the bluesy jangle of acoustic guitar amps it up at key points. This is more rugged than many other tracks on Shadow, but it doesn’t sound at all out of place juxtaposed against the other songs. “Autumn” has the browning elegance of fall coloring its sparse musical texture and makes some important embellishments along the way that set it apart from other tracks on Shadow. It’s certainly one of the album’s best songs. There’s some unusual instrumentation on the delightfully underhanded and snide “God Forbid”, including woodwind, and Freeman sinks her interpretative teeth deep into the song and owns it with on point phrasing. There’s a refreshing amount of variety on Shadow that suggests Grace Freeman is a songwriter with rarely any shortage of ideas. It’s equally clear that she has the facility for expressing them and the top notch collaborators who aid her in that pursuit are obviously sympathetic to the quality of her voice and material. Grace Freeman’s emergence as a major new talent continues; you are advised to stay tuned from this point forward.

KALO - Wild Change (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://www.kaloband.com/

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Written by Jason Hillenburg, posted by blog admin

The band KALO, their moniker adopted from lead singer/songwriter and guitarist Bat-Or Kalo, are a three piece with the skills to revitalize a genre. More often than not, these days, the most successful blues acts are those revolving around a singular personality, ala Joe Bonamassa, rather than a true band. KALO combines the best of both worlds – it provides a forum for Bat-Or Kalo to reveal the full and thrilling breadth of her talents while placing her in the context of an electrifying power trio who have obvious chemistry to burn. KALO’s third album, Wild Change, is an eleven song collection that clearly illustrates why this Israeli born guitarist and singer has virtually revitalized the form on the back of her considerable talents. There hasn’t been a female vocalist in many years who has so overtly embraced traditional blues with such stunning results.

The hard-charging romp “One Mississippi” has some pared back, white-knuckled guitar and relentless percussion that keeps the tune hopping from the first. The hand claps added to the song are a nice retro touch that you don’t often hear anymore. Kalo’s singing has a lot of variation – she isn’t one of these heavy handed modern blues interpreters who thinks everything has to be delivered as a full on wail. We get out first dose of rock ‘n’ blooze on the track “Isabel” and Kalo unleashes a focused, impassioned vocal that complements the grinding musical arrangement. It really hits a combustible point with the chorus and the raucous spirit informing the tune from the first never backs off from the first. Mike Alexander’s drumming is particularly effective on the song “Fix” and he helps Kalo and bassist Mack McKinney make the most of the song’s natural peaks. The chorus on this one is hard hitting and ranks among the album’s best.

The title cut brings us back to the rock ‘n’ blooze churn of the earlier “Isabel”, but it’s less cluttered and more reliant on clear melodic ideas. The high points in the song practically drips with passion and Kalo, risking cliché, sings like someone with her back against the wall and dependant on getting this song over with listeners. KALO veers off into an utterly different direction on the funk and R&B influence “Pay to Play”, but she sounds just as home with this sort of brass infused and bass heavy material. This is a deliciously commercial tune that doesn’t sacrifice any of its credibility to establish its mainstream appeal. Wild Change concludes with “Calling All Dreamers” forsakes the bluesy pyrotechnics and funk influences in favor of straight forward acoustic singer/songwriter sort of material. Kalo shows herself quite adept at modulating her voice accordingly and delivers, arguably, her most soulful performance on the release. Wild Change is a mightily impressive addition to Kalo’s growing discography and likely rates as her greatest moment yet.

Dust of Days - Analog Mind Bender (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://dustofdays.com/

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Written by Robert Michaels, posted by blog admin

This is a refreshing turn. Dust of Days, a New Jersey based four piece band, is labeled as alternative rock and it isn’t entirely wrong to deem them as such. They are so much more, however. There are a number of cuts on their second full length release, Analog Mind Bender, that readily defy easy categorization or else extend their stylistic reach across multiple borders. Their ability to maintain a core sound while expanding on it in a coherent way is something miraculous in a rock world full of one trick ponies and flavors of the moment. The band, via songwriter Frank Lettieri Jr., are recording the sort of songs that are built to last rather than sonic confections designed to capture the Zeitgeist of a particular moment. The production employed on this collection is designed to underline these aspirations and renders the band’s instrumental attack with visceral, intimate intensity. This is rock, revamped, refurbished, and reclaimed.

It starts off with a bright step on the album’s title track. “Analog Mind Bender”, as a title, implies that the song might be a little trippy, but it’s a relatively straight forward melodic rocker that lands with an impact but also ranks as one of the most accessible tunes on the release. Much of the remaining material is far more challenging – both musically and lyrically. One of the album’s hardest excursions into rock/metal comes with the second song “Aurora”. The thrashing guitars and powerful rhythm section attack are far more extreme than anything we heard in the first song and the band sounds quite credible manifesting this sort of attack. “Mustang” signals the album’s first big shift in direction as they pare back the guitar theatrics in favor of a more artfully employed six string approach. It’s compositional in nature, letting notes and passages accumulate for a final effect rather than showing the listener all of your cards at once or else attempting to bludgeon them into submission. “Heavy” is a rough and tumble tune with attitude to burn and the churning guitars of Mike Virok and Jim McGee team up here for memorably powerful effect. Lettieri’s drumming here sets a tone that’s difficult to forget.

His ability to play to the song and not be heavy handed is evidenced on the earlier “Mustang” and “My Dear” as well. It’s truly a treat to hear how he’s able to help orchestrate the song’s high points for maximum effect and his vocal is equally up to the challenge as well. His ability to emote is just as strong as the ferocious roar he’s able to summon up with his voice and the lyrical material is among the strongest on Analog Mind Bender. “Death Vibrations” is another fine lyrical effort, albeit rather dark, and Lettieri gives an uncompromising vocal that doubles down on its demeanor. This is an impressive effort from first song to last and it’s clear the band went into the studio ready to record rather than meandering around with potential creative dead ends. The fully realized feel of this release is impossible to escape – Dust of Days’ Analog Mind Bender will definitely push this band to among the vanguard of talented modern rock acts.