This British band are hailed as the heirs to the classic rock throne, as currently held by the likes of Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Rainbow.
Fronted by one of the biggest voices in rock today, Nathan James dominates this recoding with some truly remarkable vocal acrobatics. From a deep booming baritone to high pitch wailing and everything in between, he is all over this material like few others I can recall in recent times.
The style of James can be something that requires adjusting to – when you have such a unique voice, there will be some that don’t connect – but then he so suits the material here it doesn’t take long to warm up to him. Think Richie Kotzen meets David Coverdale.
But he isn’t the lone star here – the performances within this album from the band are quite special. There’s a certain organic energy that radiates from this record, yet at the same time, the production seems quite polished.
The twin guitar attack is relentless and the rhythm section delivers the thunder to the lightning of James’ dominant vocals.
I love the production on this album. It’s sharp, it’s crisp, but it is also warm and inviting. A lot of time and went into this record and it shows.
What I struggled with to start with was the pacing of the album (yes, the tempo strikes again) and that issue remains as the only hesitation here.
While this album has a penchant for slower songs, most of them work. I’d prefer a couple more ‘up’ tunes, but the quality of the performances and the songs themselves make up for this and dare I say that those that have an ear for the slow and moody will absolutely love what’s on offer here.
After a build-up that would rival Rainbow and Deep Purple for mood and anticipation, Until I Die storms to life. It’s a mid-tempo hard hitting rocker with a terrific Zeppelinesque groove.
Breakaway is a storming fast paced Rainbow/Purple style rocker with organ and screaming vocals – everything you could ask for.
High Flying Gypsy turns the tempo back a notch, but is driven by a big riff and some nice soloing. The vocals wail of course.
Holy Water is utterly brilliant. The slow tempo suits the mood and all I can hear is classic Deep Purple or Coverdale here. It’s just immense. James electrifies with a really soulful vocal. It’s very Richie Kotzen and sounds like it could come from any of his solo albums. It’s a classic 70s swagger-n-blues tune. Very cool and the chorus is simple, but high impact.
Warning takes a while to kick into high gear, but once rolling, delivers a wailing tempo boost when needed. The twin guitar attack delivers riffs in both ears while the production is just perfect and James’ vocals are brilliant.
Bleed For You is the third slowish tune in a row, which would normally test my patience, but its simply too good a song to worry. It’s a heavy ballad of sorts, the vocals are once again quite extraordinary.
Girl Got A Gun is the same slow pace again, perhaps this is one slow track too many, but the chorus comes to life and it’s still a very good song.
You're Mine stays within the album’s overall mid-pace tempo. This is a bit of Zeppelinesque number. It’s a decent hard rocker with more Kotzen familiarities with the vocals and some touches of Coverdale too.
Inglorious is a heavy, slow rocker with another Zeppelin influenced 70s riff and some variety within the song, but overall it’s slow once again and the album could really use a lift in tempo.
Wake isn’t it. The song is an acoustic ballad with a lot of class though, a really big soulful vocal again from James.
Unaware is a heavy but melodic heavy groove that is for me probably missing a stronger chorus.
The first half of the album is flawless as far as I can see and the second half still sounds amazing, but suffers from lack of pace and a couple of songs that match the outstanding quality within the first half.
It all comes down to the tempo – only 1 or 2 really fired up, fast paced tracks. More would have been preferred, but at least the songs are consistently good.
The album pays homage to the artists mentioned as influences and Nathan James is a monster vocalist with a strong Richie Kotzen / David Coverdale vibe. The rest of the band are no slouches either – dynamic performances all-round and a very convincing debut.
