By Monk
Now and again something comes along that lives up to its name. And by feck and all the gods of rock ‘n’ roll, the opening riff by this hard rockin’ crue defiantly lives up to their name, as it almost blew the very woofers out of my speakers never mind shook the foundations upon which ÜRHQ stands to their very Victorian core. Talk about a declaratory introduction…
That opening, winding tumult demanding that we be ‘Strong As A Lion’ is a mere prelude as the song serves as a more than tasty appetizer for the other 12 courses still to come, with its acerbic, insightful vocals and beautifully harmonic bass work, which in itself is both dominant and subtle, as the needs of each track, and each nuance within, declares and demands.
Musically, the album touches many bases, from the stadium-filling alt-rock groove of the likes of Nickelback and Alter Bridge to the straight ahead, balls to the wall approach of traditional heavy metal through shoegazing indie melancholia, but all delivered with aplomb, verve and a remarkable consistency of sound which belies the apparently disparate sonic ambiences at play herein.
Each and every song is a solid ‘banger, as the hip kids say these days, with catchy choruses and massive melodies combining with suitably hard edged riffs and rhythms that consistently, and unrelentingly, punch you in the chest without giving you a chance to take a breath or ask for mercy. Not that you’ll want to do so, as this is one sonic assault that you will let invade your aural memory cells and remain there for a long time. Tracks like ‘King Without A Crown’, the stunningly personal ‘Demons In My Dreams’ and ‘Lone Wolf’ are definitely, and defiantly, up there with some of the biggest stadium-filling anthems you will hear this or any other year \m/
If these guys shake the ground as heavily in their native Switzerland as they do the speakers here at ÜRHQ then expect the collapse of the Alps to be the lead story on your fake news channel of choice some day soon.
- ‘Rogue Asylum’ is out now.
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