Igneous Rock #3

Regular readers of these pages will know I’m massively into my rock and metal, amongst other style. Hard rock in particular is a thriving genre, with many amazing underground bands and musicians emerging from the scene in recent years. If you’re a hard rock fan, every act on this list is worthy of your attention, with a full playlist placed at the end for your consideration.

Review by Jane Howkins

Photo by Attic Theory

Attic Theory – Papier-Mâché

We’ve featured Attic Theory before, so it makes perfect sense for new release Papier-Mâché to be placed first in this article. The track also features Kevin Martin from Candlebox, making for a great collaboration. It starts out in fantastic style with some killer riffs, making for a track that simply bursts with energy. The vocals suit the genre of music well, crooning along to the vocals in a soulful manner. It’s also rather catchy, mixing heaviness and melody suitably. The chorus includes some awesome backing vocals, creating an anthemic singalong quality that will get underneath your skin in no time.

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Alex James – Waiting For Something

Alex James is a DMD-fronted band from the North East, curating brilliant track Waiting For Something. It opens with a buzzsaw guitar riff, matched perfectly by the pulsating bassline and frantic drum beat. A solo guitar tails off every so often, creating some amazing solos that show the true power of this band. Waiting For Something has an immense energy, drawing you into the band’s world instantly. There’s something almost menacing about the main riff, particularly when it builds up into the last chorus towards the end!

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Shooting Galleries – Swan Song

Swan Song opens with quite a mellow guitar melody, although it still sounds awesome! The vocals soon appear, following the main riff to a tee. It actually sounds pretty beautiful, building up until about halfway through when the rest of the instrumentation bursts through the seams with a cool guitar solo. The track changes vastly here, adding a lot of variety into the mix with the dynamic changes. Shooting Galleries’ vocals simply ooze with passion here, making you feel everything in the lyrics. It’s great to hear a rock song that sounds so different from the norm!

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Movie Club – “Thresher”

Movie Club is an instrumental rock band from Venice Beach. However, don’t let the instrumental nature of “Thresher” put you off, as it’s a great song. It’s got a pretty psychedelic sound at times, introducing some menacing guitar riffs that work well against the darkly prominent bassline. It really is a wonderful piece of work, changing the pitch of the notes slightly as the music progresses, creating a sense of frantic urgency. At the end, the music builds up into a fast-paced crescendo of discordant notes, unleashing the tension in style.

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SOBAK – Donna

Nashville rocker SOBAK adds more of a classic rock sound to this list with new release, Donna. The production is a little raw at times, but it really works with the style of music SOBAK is cultivating here. The chorus is pretty anthemic, adding a singalong quality that will have you joining in in no time. The riffs are absolutely killer too, fitting around the bass and drums perfectly, adding their own rhythmic quality into the mix. There’s also some awesome solos at the end, showing how skilled this artist is. This is one for all of you into your classic rock music!

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Saves the Witch – Abeam the Intrepid

The interestingly titled Abeam the Intrepid is a track curated by Saves the Witch, an American band with a unique sound. It opens with some intriguing electronic effects, before a slow, clean guitar melody kicks in. However, a buzzsaw guitar riff soon arrives with the rhythm section, alongside some recorded spoken vocals. It’s largely an instrumental piece, but the music is impressive enough as it is, diverging down some experimental lines over the course of the piece. Abeam the Intrepid utilises some really amazing guitar licks, creating something utterly unique in the hard rock world.

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Slatz – Synthwave Metal

You might have an idea of what Synthwave Metal sounds like from the title of the track, and you wouldn’t be wrong! It’s certainly a hard rock song, but Slatz also adds in some ethereal synths, mixing different genres together in a wonderful way. It’s another instrumental number, but the synths create a really cool ambience with the riffs, drawing you in instantly. Synthwave Metal is a pretty heavy track – however, the synths and keyboard effects add a nice tone in the background, creating multiple textures of sound. If you like your rock a bit different, this should be perfect for you!

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Goldthrone – Scale It Down

It’s extremely rare that we get to hear music from Tasmania, so rockers Goldthrone are very welcome indeed! Scale It Down starts out slowly with a meandering guitar melody, before the heaviness kicks in. The dynamics are changed quite drastically between verse and chorus, but this element ensures your attention is always kept in check. The vocals truly soar over the chorus, delivering an impassioned vocal line that really allows you to feel everything portrayed in the lyrics. There’s a lot of energy here, making for a perfect song to headbang to.

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Hole Tripper – Old Days

Hole Tripper describe their music as ‘gloriously unfashionable rock music’, but that’s really not true. Old Days is a great track, containing elements of grunge, alt rock and hard rock. It starts out in a mellow fashion on the verses, before the heavier choruses appear, bursting forward with immense energy. The vocals truly soar on the chorus, delivering an impassioned scream that really rocks the soul. Little pre-recorded soundbites appear every so often, creating more context for the tune. Old Days is far from unfashionable, but it truly is glorious to behold.

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Joshanda – Holier

Canadian rock band Joshanda have created something really special on new tune Holier. It opens with some interesting palm-muted guitar effects, which the band utilise well throughout the track. The guitars have a really bouncy quality, chugging away in fantastic style in the background. The track has an almost Eastern metal sound at times, making a song that sounds really different to the typical hard rock norms. The bridge descends into a discordant cacophony before the last catchy chorus kicks in, keeping you constantly on your toes on Holier.

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