Count Pariah – Self Titled

By RingMaster Review on June 1, 2021 • ( 0 )

Count Pariah is the name and with a self-titled debut EP they have marked our cards of something rather exciting in the making. The four track release comes courtesy of Pavement Entertainment and merges recognisable flavours with bold and fresh individuality to provide a striking introduction to the US rockers.

Hailing from Knoxville, TN, Count Pariah create a fully rounded sound embracing varied rock flavours; one which seemingly pays open notice of the quartet’s inspirations whilst forging its own character and imagination. That familiarity, which is not easy to precisely pin down, is a certain temptation in a treasure of many within the band’s EP; a release which is as rousing and anthemic as it can be haunting and emotively fired.

The release opens with Feed Em To The Fire, the track rising on a sonic sunrise thick in intimation. From within a spiral of guitar adds to the growing drama, the rhythmic manipulation of Adam Tilley quickly shaping and driving the temptation deeper within a web of suggestion and enterprise. James Croft’s vocals are soon standing within the adventure, emotively suggesting and reflecting as the song’s mix of alternative rock and grunge becomes more heated. From within, guitarist Jason Breland continues to spin grooves and cast riffs that captivated alongside the stalking rhythms of Tilley and bassist Dustin Barousse; the band uniting in providing an unexpected twist into a progressively melodic and haunted aside as they caged the surge of robust persuasion but ignited greater intrigue with its imagination.

It is a great start soon powerfully eclipsed by the EP’s best moment, Untouchable addiction in the courting and soon sealed. A Placebo like hue scents its initial breath and subsequent seduction but is soon enveloped by the track’s contagious call and creative drama. Irrepressibly infectious in its chorus and magnetically evocative in its heart, the track is glorious and quickly leading our eagerly involved vocal chords and imagination.

Possession gently courts ears next, a lone riff luring intrigue before a sonic eruption breeds a rapacious groove which almost stalks the listener as Croft’s magnetic tones bring their own emotive espionage to the track’s thick lure. Again there is an inherent catchiness to the encounter and equally an imaginative creative narrative which keeps expectations lonely and attention full, aspects just as compelling within EP closer, Feel It At Night. If a song which did not work itself under the skin as deeply as its predecessors, it had little trouble arousing keen attention with its melodic blues tinted fire and even more tempestuous essences.

It is a potent end to a striking first encounter with the US band, one thick in such potential and realised adventure that we anticipate and eagerly await much bigger things with Count Pariah.

The Count Pariah EP is out now via Pavement Entertainment; available through https://orcd.co/countpariah