The Hard Place #5
We all knew this winter was going to be hard. But nobody could have foreseen just how hard. Here, at the never-beating, black granite heart of The Hard Place, we’d like to think we can make it just that little bit harder. Just for you. “How hard?” you ask, expectant and not a little apprehensive. And the answer is “None. None more hard.” Walk with us now, barefoot, through the broken-bottle-strewn wasteland of rock’s best new releases.
To light our fuse today we bring you the underwear-soakingly cool new single from W.E.T. who have a new record set for a January release. The band, who have been the darlings of the melodic rock scene since forming as a trio in 2009, have fleshed out their lineup to six members, because - as we Hard Placers know - more is more. But this is a track that is refreshingly brief; within fifty seconds of ‘Big Boys Don’t Cry’, the duelling lead vocals of Jeff Scott Soto and Erik Mårtensson lead us to a Def Leppardian chorus which will no doubt see the tongues of AOR fans causing trip hazards all over the place. The catchiness is balanced out by unrelentingly hefty guitars and a pummelling production and once they’ve zipped through another verse and chorus, it’s squealy guitar solo, double chorus (with no guitars first time, obvs), big finish and done. Textbook. Being as I am rather old and frail of body now, I fear that hearing a whole album of this sort of thing will actually finish me off but, by jovi, on its own this is three minutes of pure hard rock perfection that no-one should have to do without.
Now, then the standard schtick of many a new hard rock release is to limply claim that the sound is classic but… with a contemporary edge! There is no such nonsense with UK rock veterans Cats In Space, who clearly have no interest whatsoever in being in any way current. Elevated by the addition of vocalist Damien Edwards, their hugely enjoyable new album ‘Atlantis’ unapologetically celebrates the overblown pomp of 1970’s Queen, Boston and ELO in all its stacked-vocal glory. It’s a collection of forgeries so meticulously constructed each could be easily passed off as a genuine lost masterpiece. The positively Jim Steinman single ‘I Fell Out Of Love With Rock ‘n’ Roll’ should tell you all you need to know and have you rushing towards your Christmas ideas list to finally fill in that blank after it says “CD for Dad.” More wordage on the album, which is out now on the Harmony Factory label, can be found here in the reviews section.
For something rather more modern - and certainly more gothic - look no further than A Primitive Evolution (or A.P.E. to their pals). The Canadian trio, who formed in 2007, have recently released their third LP, Becoming, and their new single ‘Ghost’ is a brooding seven-minute epic, accompanied by a suitably cinematic but desolate video. Guitarist Brett Carruthers (hauntingly played here by Gary Oldman - oh, what, really? That’s not Oldman? Oh, ok…) gradually piles slabs of searing guitars against Steph Misayo Seki’s distorted bass and Stu Dead’s ferocious drums. As you can imagine, it all gets very metal but manages to retain an eerie clarity. If Jerry Cantrell and Chris Cornell had ever written the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic western, then we think this is pretty much what it would have sounded like. Becoming is out now on Metropolis Records.
Continuing with the end-of-days theme we feel that, before we’re all wiped from the face of the planet, we ought to tell you about Jason Bieler & The Baron Von Bielski Orchestra’s new album, Songs For The Apocalypse, which is due for a January 2021 release via Frontiers. Lead single ‘Apology’ is a stunningly produced, riff-infested fairground ride full of twist, turn and groove; and is as melodic as it is heavy. For the album, the ex-Saigon Kick guitarist Bieler has populated his orchestra with an interesting mix of members, including Butch Walker, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Extreme’s Pat Badger, and Jeff Scott Soto (him from earlier on, for those of you paying attention). It’s a bit like me, really, when I’m cooking in the kitchen: chuck in loads of odd ingredients and hope for the best. It could result in another of my ‘brown’ soups or it could be something rather more spectacular. On the strength of ‘Apology’, though, I rather suspect Bieler will be serving up a platter of the latter.
And now, full of appetite, I’m off for a lunch of Fray Bentos pie. How metal is that? Thank you for putting yourself in The Hard Place once more. Until next time, keep your trousers tight and your hair big, while remaining mindful of your limits. Rock hard, but always - always - rock safe.
The Hard Place is a Rich Barnard production for Red Guitar Music.
You have reached The Hard Place. A place where the hair is just a shade more voluminous. A place where the trousers are, on average, two belt holes tighter. A place wherein it is perfectly normal for guitars to begin spontaneously spewing fireworks. Or lightning. Or both. We bring you the choicest, freshest cuts of retro-metal on offer. And, in a scene where wrongness so often prevails, The Hard Place offers a distillation of all that is currently right with the world of melodic hard rock. Quite a lot of it is, as you might expect, from Sweden.