Page 27 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 113

BV113 albums pg27.qxp_BV113 pg 27 10/12/2025 23:18 Page 1

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tronic techno, grunge, alt- A Bad Sign’ (Albert King) time fan of Set It Off, you fore, somewhat heavier
rock and stompy shouty and ‘Oh Well’ (Fleetwood won’t be let down by this and darker than the previ-
metal all in a 2-minute and Mac). The calibre is high release. Songs such as ous two releases, but that
42-second song. and the band recreate the ‘Rotten’ have particularly is certainly no bad thing.
The beat to ‘Psycho cover songs immaculately. heavy, throat-throttling gui- 'Dirty Woman' kicks
Killer’ sounds like an army You can definitely tell that tars. Melodic choruses things off in powerful style,
of scary corpses trudging Slash and his bandmates make way for dark, deadly with its swaggering, dirty
from their graves. It’s the are having a ball, and the verses, before an aggres- groove, befitting the slightly
perfect song for a horror cheers of approval after sive breakdown like none seedy nature of the lyrics.
movie soundtrack and ‘Oh Well’ and ‘Big Legged other. There are nightmare Special guest Reb Beach
would scare you to death if Woman’ (Freddie King) vibes in ‘Evil People’, which of Winger / Whitesnake
THE HARA listening to it on your own from the audience are well the band released as a sin- contributes a suitably 80s-
THE FALLOUT late at night, while ‘Inter- deserved. Slash’s guitar- gle a couple of years ago. style guitar solo as well.
(MASCOT) galactic Sabotage’ is a little work stands out in every ‘Friendly but lethal,’ Cody 'Warsong' follows, with a
THE HARA do not dis- more easy-going, and one song, although the whole sings, and that’s exactly completely different feel to
appoint with their sopho- of the catchiest tunes on band sound superb. The how the song sounds. ‘Cre- the original but with plenty
more album release, ‘The the record with a beguiling show and release also in- ating Monsters’ is toe-tap- of attitude to accompany
Fallout’. The album is an gang chorus. cluded Slash’s own instru- pingly cinematic, with the protest-style nature of
extraordinary work of art, ‘The Fallout’ is an out- mental, ‘Metal Chestnut’, in added swing, while ‘Wolf In the song, and the lyrics
showcasing the band’s standing album, one which which the guitarist truly Sheep’s Clothing [RE- about the nastiness of war-
ever-expanding talents. should hopefully catapult shines. At the end of the BORN]’ is the band’s clas- fare still seem relevant in
Opening track and single, THE HARA into the top 15th and final song, the re- sic hit kicked black and today's world. Other songs
‘Trophy’, is a stunner; it’s league. ‘I feel like I’m going joicing ‘Shake Your Money blue, scarred, bruised, given updated treatment in-
raw, vulnerable and reveal- on faithless,’ sings Josh in Maker’ (Elmore James), beaten and out for blood. clude the first album's title
ing. The band link tender ‘Easier To Die’, but the you will be cheering for Final track, ‘Worst Case track 'Fight To Survive', the
sensitivity with harsh three-piece from Manch- more, too. Scenarios’, has an ethereal dark 'If My Mind Is Evil',
power. Intricate guitars, ester have definitely given YYYY tone to it. A song about al- about religious fanatics, the
courtesy of Zack Breen, us faith in music again. Shari Black Velvet ways thinking the worst, it sad and emotional 'Don't
flutter behind vocalist Josh YYYYY has a softer feel to the rest Say It's Over', and their
Taylor’s anguished vocals. Shari Black Velvet of the album, wrapping the rendition of the old Golden
Strings and piano are album up in a calm yet ma- Earring classic 'Radar
added to make the song a jestic manner. The band Love', this time given a dif-
real epic, while Jack has definitely created some ferent type of swagger
Kennedy contributes a cap- monsters on this album re- along with an added brass
tivating drum beat that lease, but these monsters section. The new approach
matches the fluctuation of are all pretty fantastic. to the re-recordings gives
emotions. ‘Easier To Die’ YYYYY the songs a fresh feel, es-
features screams that Shari Black Velvet pecially with the new pro-
could scare witches away, duction, which makes them
with Josh singing about MIKE TRAMP jump out of your speakers
‘too much time in my head’. SET IT OFF SONGS OF WHITE LION and makes them thor-
Josh uses songwriting to SET IT OFF VOL. III oughly enjoyable to listen
open up about his feelings, SLASH (SET IT OFF) (FRONTIERS) to. The standout tracks of
what he’s been going LIVE AT THE ‘Go fuck yourself,’ Singer-songwriter Mike the album are 'She's Got
through, and letting it all S.E.R.P.E.N.T. FESTIVAL singer Cody Carson of Set Tramp continues his ongo- Everything' and the
out. ‘Stay’ is a particularly (EARMUSIC) It Off spits in ‘Punching ing quest to revisit, reinter- tremendous 'Cherokee',
emotional song, which you If you’re having a night Bag’, the second song from pret and update the back from 'Fight To Survive',
can almost feel ripping your in, but wishing you were at the band’s self-titled album. catalogue of his former rarely played live back in
heart out, focusing on the a gig, Slash’s new ‘Live At The band do not hold back band from the late 80s / the day but, hopefully, that
subject of a toxic relation- The S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festi- on their independent, full- early 90s, the platinum- will now be rectified with
ship. ‘Violence (feat. As val’ is a great new release length release, which in- selling hard rock outfit the release of this new ver-
December Falls)’ begins to put on. It’s the perfect cludes songs about ‘Fake White Lion, with this third sion. It showcases what a
with a dark electronic and album to let your hair down Ass Friends’, ‘Evil People’, and final release in the se- truly talented songwriter
industrial intro and verse, to after a hard day’s work, ‘Parasite’ and ‘Creating ries. As with the previous Mike Tramp is, along with
before blossoming into an to get your groove on to, Monsters’. There’s a defi- two instalments, Mike has his former songwriting part-
upbeat, melodic chorus. and party like it’s 1969. nite theme to the album re-recorded all the songs in ner from White Lion, guitar
The addition of Bethany Slash brought his Blues and it’s not a lovefest for different keys in order to virtuoso Vito Bratta, whose
Hunter Jiménez contribut- Ball band out in July 2024 their besties. Their 12- accommodate his present, solos on the original tracks
ing female vocals gives the to perform at the festival at song, self-titled album sees more mature-sounding are, once again, meticu-
toxic relationship-inspired the Mission Ballroom in the band incorporate ev- vocal style, while also giv- lously duplicated, almost
song a confrontational Denver and this album is erything we know and love ing them a more modern note-for-note, by the mas-
back-and-forth element. the documented product. them for – a theatrical emo sound and feel sonically sively talented Marcus
‘Twist The Arrows’ is Heavily inspired by the edge, and a quirky mix of using current recording Nand, which gives the
epic-sounding, Zack’s gui- blues, Slash put together rap and rock vocals, while techniques. Because he songs on the album the
tarwork is particularly out- Slash’s Blues Ball to tip his this album also dives into a didn't originally envisage final polish. The time and
standing. ‘Surrounded by hat to inspiring blues musi- heavier metalcore sound at doing more than one vol- effort that Mike has taken
self-sabotage’ sings Josh, cians from the past. Joining the same time. ume of the project, the first to produce these albums
before ‘drown my sorrows Slash for the show, and The three-piece band release understandably shows that he is truly proud
to hide my feelings’. If you consequent release, was of Cody Carson, Maxx featured the most well- of the work put out by the
ever thought it was all fun Teddy ‘ZigZag’ Andreadis Danziger and Zach DeWall known White Lion classic original band, and he has
and games fronting a band, (keyboards, harmonica, vo- have said they feel the hits such as 'Wait', 'When definitely ensured that the
then the lyrics to these cals), Tash Neal (rhythm freshest they’ve ever been The Children Cry' and 'Lit- White Lion legacy will live
songs will inform you other- guitar, vocals), Johnny Gri- and that this is who they tle Fighter'. So, that means on for many more years to
wise. ‘Monsters & Demons’ paric (bass, backing vo- are. They don’t have a that, with this third volume, come. The three volumes
is enough to get any mon- cals) and Michael Jerome label backing them. Every- we are now treated to in the series comprise a
sters and demons dancing (drums). They power thing on the album is ex- some of the deeper, less truly outstanding body of
around, it’s that conta- through the likes of ‘Parch- actly what they want it to commercial-sounding cuts work. A roaring success,
gious, while ‘The System’ man Farm Blues’ (Bukka be. To listen to, it’s fun, from the band's original pun intended.
is a real mash-up of musi- White), ‘Killing Floor’ passionate and invigorat- four albums. The overall YYYYY
cal genres, there’s elec- (Howlin’ Wolf), ‘Born Under ing. If you’ve been a long- feel of the album is, there- Ian Trigg
ALBUMS