By Alistair Wiseman
I’ll be honest, I’d not heard of Wicked Stone until encountering this EP, so I was pleasantly surprised by what we have here, which is five tracks of simple old-fashioned rock! My first impression was “Ooh this sounds like how Shinedown did in their early days”, and that’s is no bad thing at all! Punchy, catchy, with a crisp enough vocal that you’ll not have to go Googling lyrics, ‘Devil in Me’ is frankly very easy on the ear, to the point where I actually looked up where they are touring and was pretty damn pissed that they’d played my local venue The Robin 2 in Bilston, two days previous to my picking up this. This was greeted with a resounding “bugger!”. But, I digress…
Right from the opening of ‘Couldn’t Take Anymore’ Wicked Stone sound tight and I’m aware that these guys know what they’re doing. Any one of the five offerings could be a single as they’re self-contained and rounded, distinct from each other while carrying a sound (which it seems is cultivated rather than accidental) that is promoting the strengths of the band. Joe Hawx’s delivery really does lead the line and that’s something which always pleases me, but the guitar work and noticeably a strong drumline compliment everything. This is a group, not just a singer with a backing band and everyone has their part to play, and they do it well! The second track ‘Unchained’ puts me in mind of a (sadly!) little known band called Mammal from Australia and I found myself hours later humming it while working. Impressive! The intro for ‘Keep Fighting’, starts like a suspicious 80s metal song but transitions back into a cross between the two aforementioned bands and keeps it there. For a band I’ve not encountered before it feels both familiar and yet fresh, like a decent new release from a previously enjoyed band. I’ll admit to hunting down their debut album ‘Ain’t No Rest’ after hearing this and if that isn’t an endorsement I don’t know what is!
‘Saviour’, the penultimate track is notable for the instrumentation. It’s the second shortest song and not the strongest lyrically but my impression is that they’re ok with that. There’s nothing like a couple of old-fashioned solos to make a rock fan smile and it works here well enough. Curiously the title track is the last one on the EP but it finishes off the release well. Personally, I think the first two tracks are the strongest but the full 20 minutes from start to finish are well worth the time investment. ‘Devil in me’ as a track reflects the whole, strong, punchy, certainly catchy, heavy enough to be invigorating, while still sing-alongable to. It’s not complicated, but it doesn’t need to be. As a rock release it does exactly what it says on the tin, and as I listen again to the solo on ‘Couldn’t Take Anymore’ while typing this, I find myself thinking it’s one of the best releases I’ve run into in a long time.
Which makes missing them a week ago so much more infuriating!!
- ‘Devil in Me’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
- Wicked Stone play The Booking Hall in Dover on Saturday 23 November.
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