Thursday 17 December 2009

MAN OF KIN - AND SO IT BEGINS... (Cd Review)


01.And So It Begins...
02.These 4 Walls
03.Disgrace
04.Overthrown
05.Self Righteous
06.The Unknown
07.Silver Lining

Jaz (Vocals)
Rob (Drums)
Carl (Bass)
Jon (Rhythm Guitar)
Aaron (Lead Guitar)

That 10 months from their debut album and the change of lead guitarists can have such a
profound effect on a band as to change their sound to a level of maturity that many
bands would strive for a decade to create is nothing short of genius.

That this disc is simply a limited edition pre mix demo for the fans is amazing when
you consider that the quality of these recordings is far superior than many an
overblown and over hyped release from so called "big bands".

'And So It Begins...' with a nice rhythmic drumming intro into a really punchy powerchord driven rocker with some great lyrics that nail the current philosophy of the band, "and take this all to where it should have been", perhaps proving a point that the band have now found their feet.As if to underline this new confidence and to herald the new sound we get to hear vocalist Jaz sing for the first time, sure the agression is there but half way through his coice sings out and he has a great voice, but thats not all for the soulful guitar work of Aaron just lifts the song to new levels.

The next song 'These 4 Walls' keeps the pace going with a drum driven metal onslaught and some neat little bass lines creep through.

If you want an anthemic fist in the air headbanger with a superb shout it out loud chorus then 'Disgrace' delivers on all counts, this would make an ideal single and has potential "hit" written all over it.

Evoking the moody thrash/metal of Megadeth and the mighty Judas Priest comes 'Overthrown', "it comes from the soul" screams Jaz and its an angry one but boy does it drive this motherfucker along!

The fastest track and the one that has most anger and swearing is 'Self Righteous', some great backing vocals on this as well.

'The Unknown' is an instant foot tapping head nodder, it just has this rhythm to it that gets to you straight away, its odd because the clean vocals on it make this sound like a Stone Sour song, which is no bad thing trust me.The second single i think.

Finally we come to 'Silver Lining' a fantastic melodic thrash song, again great vocals and superb guitar work come to the forefront of what has turned out to be a truly stunning cd.

Yes its the same band who gave you 'Primitive', 'Swear To God' etc but this is a totally different band in terms of writing, vocal approach and musical structure.The finished product will be out next May for everybody to buy, and it might just turn out to be one of the best british heavy metal albums you will hear.

STU

Rating 10/10
For Fans Of : Pantera, Megadeth, Stone Sour, Slayer, Judas Priest, Evile

No comments: