Fear Me December « The RingMaster Review

There is no doubt there has been plenty of eager anticipation for the debut album from British rockers Chasing Dragons, especially since the release of their last EP, Faction: Prologue, a couple years back. It was a kind of teaser for the band’s first full-length, unsurprisingly called Faction, which built on their earlier offerings and successes whilst peering into a whole new landscape of sound and imagination, indeed intimation now fully explored and expanded within the new encounter where we would suggest, the Chasing Dragons sound has come of age.

The time since the last EP has also seen the Leeds outfit truly establish themselves on the UK live scene with a big reputation to match, Chasing Dragons sharing tours and stages with the likes of Stone Broken, The Qemists, Skid Row, SikTh, InMe, Diamond Head, Aaron Buchanan and The Cult Classics, Courage My Love, Skarlett Riot, Theia and many more. Featuring nine new songs along with re-recorded versions of the three tracks from the Faction: Prologue EP, the album swiftly ignites attention and imagination with opener Factionless. Part intro part full intimation, the track stretches up from its initial arousal on the ever striking tones of vocalist Tank. Like a flame within unsettled atmospherics, her potent presence is a rich lure and spark for the outstanding piece’s subsequent shadow bound predacious stroll. Portentous yet virally inviting, the track masterfully erupts before making way for the melodically inflamed How The World Went Black. Guitarist Adam quickly spins a web of metallic temptation woven with melodic rock enterprise whilst the track bites through the determined beats of Katie, they courted by the dark rumble from Murf’s bass. Progressive hues emerge as the song evolves, technical craft lining its invention as all the while Tank radiates with her powerful and impressive delivery.

Amongst the band’s influences stand artists such as Halestorm, Avenged Sevenfold, and Bullet For My Valentine, all open spices to the band’s individual recipe as proven again by the melodically vociferous roar that is Parasite and the dramatic exploits of Like Gravity. The latter is a tempest of textures and flavours carrying a volatility which accentuates its warmth and elegance rather than devours them. As many tracks, it is a proposition which grows by the minute through new twists and avenues, all unpredictable and each an imaginative turn along the track’s magnetic journey.

Through the equally tense Bareknuckle Lover, the mercurial attack of the track as alluring as it is resourceful, and the lively emotive roar of For Kingdom For Glory, Chasing Dragons continue to add fresh adventure to their release. The second of the two in some ways promises more than it delivers, certain inventive moments not exploited as much as personal tastes wished yet is still a gripping snare of sound.

The calmer climate and croon of This Time Is Ours allowed a breath as it simply enthralled though it too has a sprightly nature which eventually catches fire with Adam casting another striking blaze veined with mazy temptation before the riveting Devil In Her Eyes wound eager attention around its tantalisingly creative fingers and in turn The Connection takes ears on a saunter through gothic lined shadows and emotionally suggestive caresses before subsequently erupting into a furnace of muscular sonic theatre. The second of the trio is especially irresistible, every moment a clever thread into the next unexpected and virulent turn of the song though then pretty much matched in glory by its successor.

As the classic seeds of the similarly impressing I’m No Devil (I’m Just A Girl) catch fire within its metal/heavy rock drama and Whitehorse teases and fascinates, the album continues to reveal new aspects in sound and craft; the latter’s haunting opening passage an especially mouth-watering incitement for ears and imagination which hints at new corners and corridors for the band to explore ahead.

We Are The Wall concludes the release, the track a ravenous onslaught of sound and intent driven by rapacious rhythms and coloured by wiry grooves and rich melodies as Tank for a final time powerfully incites thoughts as she potently roars.

It is a fine end to an equally ear-catching album which as suggested declares Chasing Dragons at a new level in songwriting, sound, and performance, a plateau teasy to suspect the metal/rock world will be unable to ignore.

Faction is available now across most online stores.

Chasing Dragons November 2018 Faction Headline Tour

2nd – Manchester – Satan’s Hollow – support Ward XVI, Soul Desire, Fear Me December

3rd – Croydon – Croydon Rocks Fest

4th – Southampton – Joiners – support Novacrow + TBC

6th – Norwich – Brickmakers – support The Killing Culture + TBC

7th – Birmingham – Hammer & Anvil – support Novacrow + TBC

8th – Nuneaton – Queens Hall – support Novacrow + Simai + Fleer

9th – Stamford – Mama Liz’s – support Synthetic + Black Hawk Down

10th – Wakefield – Black Mass – support Novacrow + The Sourheads + Seas Of Scarlet

https://www.chasingdragons.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/chasingdragonsuk/ https://twitter.com/xchasingdragons

Pete RingMaster 18/10/2018

Every music lover can share a song or release which sparked the fight and defiance in them against either the world’s injustices or issues of a more intimate experience; encounters which trigger a renewed strength in their resistance. Fear Me December offer a quartet of such incitements within new EP, Crystallized; tracks which tap into the issues and resolve many suffer across varying areas. They are also four songs which have the body and spirit bouncing to soulful and boisterously rousing roars announcing Fear Me December as one rather potent proposition.

Formed in 2012 by Argentinian born vocalist/bassist Victoria Cabanellas and lead guitarist Valentin Macagno, Fear Me December began as a trio with the addition of drummer Emiliano. The band released their well-received debut EP, Who Cares in 2014 before taking the decision to relocate to the UK that same year. Basing themselves in Manchester, the band soon hits the live scene, touring the UK and playing festivals to begin sparking the same level of support and attention they garnered in their homeland. The departure of Emiliano back to Argentina could not stop the remaining pair from writing and working on their first album, the Matt Ellis recorded Between Violence And Silence released in 2016 with Chris Inman providing drums. 2017 saw the band’s current and stable line-up in place with Tony Small swinging the sticks and Stuart Woolley bringing rhythm guitar into the mix, the foursome now providing a rich statement of intent with the seriously magnetic Crystallized.

A creative tempest of aggressively melodic metal and rapacious heavy rock, the EP starts with Fight Me, a song surging with defiance and a rigorous confrontation from its first breath and the opening forceful rally of Small’s beats. It is an insurgence which is soon joined by the sonic impetus of the guitars and the darker throated threat of bass; it all uniting in a tempestuous front bursting with swift enterprise and the contagious presence of Cabanellas’ voice. Inescapably infectious without losing its threatening snarl and predacious bite, the track is superb emerging as one of our favourites this year; the web of metal and rock ‘n’ roll skilfully manipulated and manipulative.

Not Wired the Same follows, its rise less imposing but just as insistent as guitars weave an alluring invitation within a tide of hungry riffs and a throaty bassline to swing upon. With Small’s beats again sparing no measure of aggression even in the song’s slightly less ferocious charge compared to its predecessor, the track just as easily got under the skin with its lyrical exploration showing an understanding to depression and the instincts of the suicidal.

Two tracks in and the EP has proven one of the year’s most enjoyable offerings and does not let that success slip as it shares its final pair of tracks in This Is Not Ok and its title track. The first has a calmer stance soaked in melancholy but is soon releasing an instinctive catchiness rippling with energy and soulful intimation especially in its insistently rousing chorus. Its ebb and flow captivates; the caress and surges of the guitars igniting further enticement to match that of voice and another potent rhythmic provocation.

Closing song, Crystallized, is a fiery proposition; rom the off its flames veined by wiry tendrils of guitar and driven by the almost predatory touch of bass and drums. Cabanellas is again a winning lure in the midst of the bold adventure, even with her distance siren calls in the song’s relatively mellower twists. Providing a last furor of emotion and enterprise to the EP, the track is another truly magnetic and highly memorable moment, a description applying to each song and the release as a whole.

With Crystallized, Fear Me December has declared themselves ready to burst right out of the UK metal/rock scene into rich attention; with more of the same ahead it is hard to see them failing.

The Crystallized EP is released September 7^th through all platforms.