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Friday 13 January 2017

Reviews: Last Union, Mechina, The Clamps (Reviews By Stief)

Last Union: Most Beautiful Day (Self Released) (Dec 2016)

Featuring ex-members of Helloween and current members of Symphony X along with a decent scattering of James LaBrie of Dream Theater fame, you can tell this is going to be a great ride. The debut album from the band, it has a great mix of thumping hard rock, which sways into the realm of the symphonic at times, all tied beautifully together by frontwoman Elisa Scarpecci's wonderful and distinctive voice. As mentioned before, James LaBrie has a few stints on the album, featuring on not one but four songs, and his voice fits brilliantly with the hard hitting drums of Uli Kursch (ex-Helloween), whilst Cristano Tiberi's riffs mesh wonderfully with the bass work of Symphony X's Mike LePond.

Stand out songs include the title track Most Beautiful Day, which includes overlapping vocals, strings, and excellent guitar work from Tiberi, The Best Of Magic, a slower paced song with the same hard rock sound and Ghostwriter, a fast paced, toe tapping song guaranteed to get the heads banging. With news that the band is already working on a second studio album, it's looking like a great start for this band, one to keep your eye on! 9/10

Mechina: As Embers Turn To Dust (Self Released)

Starting off with a 2 minute symphonic intro, before bursting into the blast beats of their industrial tinged death metal sound, it's obvious Mechina aren't just a regular death metal band. This isn't to say the old "Industrial death" combination hasn't been done before, but Mechina pack a punch. The 7th album from the American three-piece is a decent mix of soaring symphonic strings and vocals mixed with harsh blast beats and guitars mixed wonderfully by Joe Tiberi. 

If I had one criticism, it would be that David Holch's clean vocals seem to fit just outside of the rest of the band's sound. It's a good voice, but Holch's death growls seem to gel better when juxtaposed with Mel Rose's operatic voice, whereas his clean vocals seem to be fighting to be heard fully over the music. Whether a product of mixing or an aesthetic choice, it's hard to say, but it's a great listen either way. 7/10

The Clamps: Blend, Shake, Swallow (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Album number two from this Italian trio is heavy rock n' roll from start to finish. From the opening of Barracuda to the close of One More Time/Barracuda Outro, it doesn't let you breathe. Every song brings visions of hurtling down the American Highway at 90mph, Lead singer Ben's gravel-laden voice fits perfectly with the dirty riffs of his guitar, Bely's bass is equally as dirty, and drummer Marcy moves from the slow beat to overtime in seconds. There's a mix of punk attitude, the pace of speed metal and the sludginess of stoner rock all wrapped in a delicious 50's rock n' roll package. There's even the odd Meat Loafian (it's a word) boogie-woogie piano thrown in for good measure. Drink it in man!  9/10

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