More broadminded audiophiles should certainly grab a listen.

Far from strangers to the live circuit in the UK, this metal ‘n’ roll (their description) band from northern France has not previously permeated my consciousness despite being formed as long ago as 1997 and having four previous albums to their credit: ‘Moments Of Awakening’ (2002), S/T (2005), ‘Watch The Sun’ (2007) and ‘The End Starts Here’ (2010).

Replete with metalcore sensibilities and a twin downtuned guitar attack from messrs David Rocha and Anthony Josse, my reason for including a review of the band’s latest album in Fireworks is entirely down to the fact that there is a melodious undercurrent within their music, and the “heavy metal with attitude” approach is immediately apparent on ‘All Night Long’, while ‘Don’t Need You’ includes some infectious rifferama. The interestingly titled ‘Using People As One Of The Fine Arts’ thereafter fails to grab the attention, having the finesse of a carthorse! All is forgiven as ‘Fires Of Hell’ is a great song including some splendid harmony vocals and wonderful moments from the twin guitarists. ‘Should Be Running’ is a pleasing pounding rocker of a song, while ‘Dusty Dreams’ (the longest track here at 6:00) is musically quite reminiscent of Wishbone Ash in places. By now, the listener will either be converted to Sebastien Pierre’s generally rather rasping, coarse vocals…or not!

The second half of the album strangely begins with ‘The Life Of A…’ with an acoustic guitar-based instrumental and leads into ‘…Drifter’ which is really quite unlike anything else on the album, except for having more of those Wishbone Ash motifs and some quite wonderful six string moments. There’s also a harmonica in the mix and I realised that this track also nods towards early Groundhogs. ‘Spain Summer Sun’ is a very heavy melodic rocker, ‘XIII/XII’ reminds me of another track (but I cannot remember which!), again has some superb twin guitars, but the screamo vocals may be too much for most Fireworks readers. ‘Annoying N’ Noisy’ is just that, while finally the title track is a classic piece of stoner rock and quite different from anything preceding it. Several hearings have moved my reaction to this from unfavourable to quite favourable, as I have (perhaps strangely) found it burrowing into my consciousness in spite of the frequent profanities!

Not perhaps an album for the majority of the readers of this magazine and website, but more broadminded audiophiles should certainly try and grab a listen. 

Paul Jerome Smith