Well, I appear to have missed seventeen years of history with this Austrian lot, and also haven’t a clue how to pronounce their name being stupidly monolingual as I am (Earwig Frost???). But promised speed metal punk with all the usual influences (Motorhead, Venom, Discharge, Darkthrone, Celtic Frost, etc etc) and a cover positively screaming Motorhead I had high hopes for caustic rough and ready high-speed riffing and insane hooks.
Opener ‘Into The Night’ didn’t exactly disappoint. It has a nice kind of Motorhead lite feel with a little scampering to the guitar but I’d call it more mid-paced than anything. It’s too short to get much of a feel but ‘In Da Not’ kind of follows the same route. The vocals are a pretty unvaried bark/shout and the bass line patters along nicely to the slightly laid-back riff. ‘Satan II’ kind of repeats the formula.
So, says I, is this it? Well whilst it’s kind of speedy and melodic, and I guess the vocals might be a little punk and some of the guitar lines might conjure a little of Motorhead at their most laid back but anyone looking for Venom, Discharge, Darkthrone, Celtic Frost or Carpathian Forest will be standing there going WTF??? It just isn’t. Not even slightly.
Now I guess you can’t blame a band for the PR guff so putting that aside what is this? Well, its hard rock with shouty vocals really. Its deft enough, there are some lovely and lively bass lines here for sure and a nice sound to the guitar. We also get the odd brass section in a lounge lizard stylee and a slow handed stoner vibe filtering through now and then which offers an almost Latino style which is different at least. On ‘Bad Beat Boogie’ we get a little piano and a nice bounce. ‘Back On Wheels’, by far the best track, we get a rough edged biker vibe which reminds me of long forgotten US band the Boyzz and this at least gets my foot going. But then we drift back to the stoner and close out with the song ‘Mary Jane’ which….no, just no. Sorry but in 2021 I really don’t want to hear another song or version called Mary Jane and it irritates me far more than the actually rather well put together song should, so that one is down to me maybe.
Look, this is nicely played and pretty lively stuff, but apart from ‘Back On Wheels’ nothing really sticks with me. The songs and the production have no bite and precious little of the sharp spikey energy this needs and none of the low-down grunt that the PR promises. Its dexterous, sure, but it’s kind of light and a bit…pub rock. And not in the inspired Dr Feelgood or The Pirates way, although there are more than a few moments that remind me of the latter.
If I was in a pub and they were playing, I’d give them a listen but suspect the night would end with me propping up the bar.
Sorry, its Ok but that’s all I can say.
(5/10 Gizmo)
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