HEAVEN'S BASEMENT - Unbreakable (CD 7tr)

Sid Glover, Chris Rivers, Rob Ellershaw and Aaron Buchannan. Five young English guys who sound as American as Jack Daniels. Well, since they sound great and they actually give it their own spin, I’m not complaining. Heaven’s Basement sounds like a grittier, earthier and a lot less sterile bad young cousin of Nickleback. To be honest, they don’t sound like Nickleback at all, they just belong in the same genre, but I do think they will appeal to their fans as well. Heavy, modern, melodic and loaded with crunchy guitars. They do have some cool heavy riffing going on as well, like in Close Encounters. Great choruses, too. Yepp, all the necessary ingredients are there! Destined for success? Well, they do deserve it from the seven tracks presented on this CD.

Janne Stark
Year: 2011
Country: UK
Link: http://heavensbasement.com/

BLACK STONE CHERRY - Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (CD)

When you say a band has matured it usually means the energy has faded, the unpolished juvenile glimpse in the eye is gone and you now have a bunch of jaded gentlemen that have cut off the thorns on their musical rose so that no radio listener will get stung by mistake. Well, this is not the case, I assure you, but I will use the term anyway about American southern rockers Black Stone Cherry. And - no, I do not see them as polished gentlemen in starched shirts and hats in hand. The first time I saw and heard Black Stone Cherry I was definitely run over by a musical tornado, at times untamed and on the verge of tipping over. This is however what is now under control. Listen to songs like Change, White Trash Millionaire or Blame It On The Boom Boom and you’ll see there’s no cause for alarm. The energy is still there! The band has always had a streak for great melodies and to write songs suitable for airplay. This album has however received a greater amount of such tracks where some could be seen as a bit too much of a radio flirt, but for some reason I love them! I really like Stay, Won’t Let Go, Like I Roll and In My Blood in the same way I like Nickleback’s radio formatted semi-ballads, where Black Stone Cherry however have a bit more hair on the chest. Where I feel the band has matured is in the way they haven’t just plugged in and played their butts off, but adjusted the sound for what each song needed. There’s a greater variation in solo sounds, from the wah wah wailing in Bame It On The Boom Boom, the fuzzy dirty sound and the baritone/octave riff in Killing Floor to the octafuzz in Change. In the latter and in Shake they have also added an extra melodic guitar phrase which I haven’t heard the band do before. They sure haven’t injected less energy in the guitar playing, but they have adjusted the distortion to fit the song. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea has a dynamic I started feel on the previous album, but which is now in full bloom. I have a feeling this will be the band’s big break through! I sure hope so!

Janne Stark

Label: Roadrunner

Year: 2011

Country: USA

CELLOUT - Superstar Prototype (CD)

Cellout is a Swedish combo I’ve followed since their demo days. Finally their debut has hit the streets and I’m not disappointed. Modern, heavy and melodic. This may sound like a general description of quite a few of today’s heavy/nu oriented bands. Well, to be honest, Cellout don’t differ so much from much of what the American recording market gives us today with bands like Sevendust, Trapt, Alter Bridge, Nickelback etc. But, nevertheless, I really like this. Cellout do what they do and they do it really well. Unlike Trapt, who are a carbon copy of Nickelback, Cellout at least give it their own stamp and in some tracks they add a heavier edge to the package. They stretch the boundaries a bit. For instance “All My Demons Inside” almost has a touch of “Dark Tranquillity” in some of the guitar rhythm parts, and “Set Things Straight” is a helluva battering ram. The mix, by Ulrich Wild (Seething, Pantera), is really fat and heavy, yet quite ambient at times. “The Gift” for instance shows some great layers in the verse part, before the detuned guitars crush all barriers in the melodic chorus. Highly recommended!
By: Janne Stark
Label: Nuerra Records
Year: 2010

SUBTOPIA - In What Do We Trust (CD)

In the steps of modern melodic American acts like Hoobastank, Nickleback, Shinedown and Swedish colleagues like Blindside and Takida there has developed a new line of interesting domestic acts. Subtopia is one example of a new Swedish name to check out. Ok, they have a lot of “modern” overtones, but in tracks like “Feed Your Mind” there are traces of Metallica, as well as Avengend Sevenfold, while “Squinch” actually reminds me a bit of Black Sabbath’s “Am I Going Insane” in its half-note elevation. The songs are quite varied without losing the theme. It’s melodic and modern, yet not too slippery or ass-kissing, which should make these guys interesting even for fans of traditional metal. The song material is really good, not earthshaking (which doesn’t happen that often), but it’s really promising! The production by Jonas Ekström and singer Antz is really strong for an indie production. A great band with great promise for the future!
/Janne Stark

Genre: Modern melodic metal
Label: private press
Country: Sweden
Year: 2009
Website: wwwsubtopiamusic.com