I have been waiting for the debut album from these guys since I first saw them at Steelhouse in 2016. I can’t believe it has taken them this long to get enough material together to complete this project. However, they have been writing and recording and releasing material at regular intervals during this time. What they have been doing, however is building up the hard yards touring and getting known on the UK rock music scene with appearances up and down the length and breadth of the country.
Having seen the guys perform at a variety of venues in the intervening time since Steelhouse, I feel it is a travesty that these aren’t playing at bigger festivals like the Rising Stage at Ramblin’ Man, and they are also long overdue a second appearance “up the mountain”. However, the current lockdown permitting, they are listed to play at Wildfire, SOS, NR Rocks and Rockwich later in the summer. So, if these go ahead then you couldn’t do much better than support these guys at these festivals. I can assure you you will not be disappointed!
What do you get from EDH? Well, from the very first note you know exactly where their influences unashamedly stem from – blues based rock akin to Black Stone Cherry. Full of thick solid riffs from the guitars of Daniel Richards and Luke Phillips backed up by the full on energetic drumming of Jay Haynes and thumping bass lines of Lewis Watkins, this is blues based rock to rival some of the best offerings of the critically acclaimed contemporary bands on the scene. Phillips’ vocals are strong and raucous with a definitive amount of grit and range appropriate to the style of music they play.
If you’ve seen these guys in the last 12 months, you’ll know three of the tracks as they have played them live and the tracks you hear on the album are just the way you would hear them live. These are ‘Texas Red’, ‘Find My Way’ and ‘Soul To Save’ (the first teaser from the album a few months back). The latest release, ‘Standing Stones’, is also the video release to go with the album.
This is 11 tracks of in your face, classic, predominantly upbeat rock music. The two curve balls on the album, however, show the softer side of the band and also are my favourites, ‘The Crow’ and ‘Without A Throne’, and whilst this is no criticism of the other nine tracks the guitar playing on both shows the ability of both Richards and Phillips to play more intricate styles rather then just power chords and screaming solos. As Miles Davies is often quoted “sometimes it’s not the notes you play but the ones you don’t” that leave the biggest impact.
If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy of the album, you should.
- ‘A Tale of Sin and Sorrow’ is released on 5 June. You can get your copy, and loads of other EDH goodies, HERE.
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