There’s an album dropping from Ripple Music that completely blows my mind. When I read the name of the band, I was like- “meh.” I mean, the name is pretty generic and just blends in with a hundred other bands, at least to me. Maybe it reminds me too much of The Mentors…I dunno, maybe.
But hey, when I saw that a PR firm was sending me stuff that was buried in my ‘promotions’ folder, for a couple months, my initial impression didn’t matter. I clicked that download like a kid with a Howdie Doodie decoder ring (yeah, I’m that old) and played the 320 kps mp3 while thinking, “holy shit, they sent this to me.”
The first track, Sunken Huntress starts out like a quirky opening Khemmis riff, who I refer to a lot lately. Then the vocals kicked in, and things changed to “holy shit, that sounds like…what’s his name.” Click, click, tap, tap I look up the band members. I tried to remember the French names, but my jingoistic, biased memory kept me from remembering. Still, after searching, I found the name I was looking for:
Again: holy shit! I LOVE Birdstone, one of the most criminally under-rated, under-reviewed bands in the heavy-psych/underground scene. Birdstone is MINDBLOWINGLY good, and even youtube videos of the band are awesome.
So to hear this vocalist, this Basile, pulling off the same vocal pyrotechnics on The Necromancers was…damn exciting! The PR and other sites state that this is for fans of Iron Maiden, Graveyard, Grand Magus and the like, and while I agree with that, it sells The Necromancers a little short. This is some of the most interesting and original heavy music I’ve heard in a while, and since there’s so much of it this years, that’s saying something. I do think Basile is destined to be something of a star, at least in Europe if not here in ‘Merica.
If you love or ever loved heavy metal, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, or thought Pentagram was cool, this is for you. Even if you haven’t listened to anything since the 80’s, this is for you. If you love Kadavar or All Them Witches, this is for you. But it’s not going to sound like them: this is as inventive, heartfelt and interesting take on heavy music as you’re likely to hear.
The production is stellar, the guitar tone is addictive, the bass is interesting and intriguing and the drums hold it all together. Which means these guys can play, and the engineering/production is world-class. This isn’t your typical auto-tuned, compressed Pro Tools product, that’s for sure. For a genre not known for putting an emphasis on vocals though, this really stands out. Basile has one of the most distinctive and engaging vocals styles I’ve ever heard. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but he is definitely an original vocalist.
I’m literally wanting to record a video of me jumping up and down like a ten-year-old screaming, “LISTEN TO THIS, LISTEN TO THIS!!!!” But, even I have limits….
So seriously: listen to this. Stream it, download it, and if you can, BUY IT!
Many thanks to Purple Sage PR for sending this. I am too grateful for words…
