Andrew Danso

For all of their artistic claims, David R Black tend to stick by a classic formula, building a tune on basic premises (for example, an opening guitar riff chugging on one side of the stereo field, before the other instruments gradually fill the gaps), and letting rip into the chorus. It’s old, tried and tested, but they make it feel effective, especially when the choruses whack, zing, and crunch. It’s not meant to stand the test of time, but it resonates enough for a suitable headbang.

It’s not all basic rock; Secret City does have a trick up its sleeve, bar a power chorus or two. The vocal performances of both David R and Sarit Black are wispy and ethereal, giving the record an air, and a sophistication which contrasts radiantly with the chugging guitars. It’s a highpoint, not just on a production level, but on a technical one too, that will help push the trio’s identity outside of the many accomplished acts which have been swimming around forever.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

It’s easy to discount retrograde remakes as nothing but laboured nostalgia, but it’s incredibly important for fans to feel that sense of time warp every now and then – not least to remind them how far their chosen genre leaps forward year after year. The genre in question is doom, with Obrero being a Swedish stoner rock band, focused on recreating that 70s sludge which helped define a trendy blueprint, decades on. Mortui Vivos Docent (the dead teach the living) is obviously not meant to be an innovator, but in reliving the past, it conveys that smoke-filled, grimy atmosphere, which characterised 70s rock sensationally. It’s also crammed full of well-crafted arrangements, that are executed with as much edge as one could squeeze from a late 90s tweed amplifier.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

With a Muse perspective on progressive rock, this Italian quartet are certainly worth their salt throughout Forecasts. Often laced in rhythmic guitar jigs, along with a fleeting vocal performance, tracks Forecast #1: Why Bother and Forecast #2: Send Me A Souvenir chime with degrees of sophistication, while Yesteryear is much more buoyant on rocking out with twanged indie chugs, and an energetic vocal. The key with progressive music has always been making repetition become enchanting, yet Planet Brain feel unnecessarily long-winded and tepid, when they decide to hit on a few proggy extensions – however, this is a pithy remark, as the four-piece are often indulged in artsy rock, rather than all out prog. An example of this is the comparatively short track length, averaging at around four minutes. Ultimately Forecasts is a display of excellent talent and promise – one can only think of bigger and better things, come the full length.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

Of the hardcore trash type, Sort By Title are content in throwing many styles at the wall, and hopeful that one or two of its nuances stick. It all whims by fairly quickly, with each number flying in an adrenaline packed three and a half minutes – at the very least an assault on the ear. The most captivating element throughout the EP is the vocal performance, dynamic enough to give the tracks that archetypal aggression, so often lost within the muddies of melodic guitars and thud of punkish drumming. This is a scrappy humane effort – and it’s all the better for it.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

Alternative rock is probably one of the most vague, misconstrued attempts at putting together a genre. Greenthief tag themselves ‘alt’, so how on earth does that relate to their sound? Rock but a little bit different? Isn’t that what every new rock distro breaks their back over claiming?

Greenthief are alternative by way of being adventurous. Through fancy, sophisticated progressions and a layered production, the Aussie four-piece meander across their coloured plain of rock more artistically than the moody taboo which alt-rock often carries. Track “Vultures” is put together like a progressive tune, yet it only runs beyond the four minute mark. It contains jump up and rock choruses, with calm and space in between, coloured by Steve James' (Sex Pistols, The Jam) production, aligning fizz and whirls enchanting the mix.

7/10 Powerplay issue #136

Emerging from the grunge laden Seattle, SYFT do the kind of hard-rock which packs a punch live, but struggles to find its way in the form of a full length album. The commercially ready New Beginning certainly won’t fail to find an audience, because they’re definitely not breaking any ground – sounding akin to Slipknot, Creed and Pod may be no bad thing, but straight imitation is another, and SYFT’s latest, pushes to the bone on being another copycat. The album feels dirty and hard edged, but the repetitive (notably in-same-key vocal) labours through the entire release, thwarting each tune into becoming something predictable. New Beginning would make for a strong EP, but as a full length, it’s as predictable as a wasp on speed.

6/10 Powerplay issue #136

Is it ever too late for potential? Is there a time when potential finally expires after its sell-by date, and becomes nothing, or frankly, failure? Perhaps, and it best coins The Square Hippies, who have lots and lots of promise, but are slow burners when it comes to realising their wealth of dreamy, quirky rock. Past their sell-by date because of the age of the personnel in the project – it’s difficult not to feel the poignancy of their self image and refuse to put that together with their sound; depressingly it begs the question “if you can’t make it now, how long do you really have left?” According to the band webpage “leaving music behind for our grandchildren” sounds a great deal bleaker.

6/10 Powerplay issue #136

A Sloth is the slowest moving animal on earth - it travels at a speed of thirteen feet per hour. Which means that if Atriarch were an animal, they’d more or less move at the same speed as a Sloth – maybe point-five of a foot quicker, being general. Indeed, Forever the End is slow, very slow.

This project is a doom and black metal affair, with wails of noise and discontent throughout, dragging the listener through an uncomfortable audio portrayal of hell. If provoking emotions of discomfort is Atriarch’s main focus in the business, then with confidence, there’s not much to fault – but if musically, you look at their lazy song structures, and their noisy incomprehensible riff patterns, then there’s a whole lot wrong with the entire release.

5/10 Powerplay #136

It’s one thing to be an angry razor-sharp doom band, expressing your outward vitriol against whatever aspect of life may be troubling you (in Children of Doom’s case it means flicking 'v's at the camera, and dressing up as if the 70s never left us) and another to actually make the listener angry, because of the poor quality of the doom played back.

The French trio’s message, lyric and image are really a smokescreen to what they actually sound like on playback, which is a tepid stoner band, with a handful of tepid punk ideas put about. Emphasis on tepid, as Children of Doom struggle to find much, if any groove in their stoner predicament - and are candidly tame during the punkish progressions too. CoD’s vocalist who goes by the name of ‘B.B.F’ does his best to tear apart the entire experience with ghastly wails over the progressions, giving them little substance and a frustrating character. Aptly tagged ‘stoner-doom-punk’ because you have to be inebriated in clouds of illegal chemicals, to actually appreciate the material. Get a grip.

3/10 Powerplay issue #136