The promo received tagged Raised by Wolves as set in the hard rock genre but it took little time to prove much more diverse and ambitious than that suggests, and also that it is one aggressively enjoyable encounter.
Raised by Wolves is the first of two EPs from Servant Leader, the solo project of Leigh Oates (vocalist of Xilla, Soldierfield, Rise To Addiction and Ninedenine). Offering five ear grabbing tracks, it is boldly fertile with a sound as much grunge and metal as it is rock bred. It makes for a potent and powerful proposition which swiftly had ears gripped through EP opener Daybreak.
Initially the first track rhythmically entices, from a distance shaping intrigue until a few seconds later it stands eye to eye with the senses and uncages its full hungry presence. As those rhythms continue to bite, grooves and melodic enticement is woven around the distinctive and ever magnetic tones of Oates. With keys just as enterprisingly involved and hooks unleashed with almost feral intent, the track proved immediate captivation and only tightened its hold with melodic and harmonic dexterity, a Soundgarden meets Skyscraper scenting around its worldly observation extra irresistibility.
Boundaries quickly follows, a roar erupting from its first breath in voice and sound to instantly engage keen attention. With boisterous energy, eager rhythms set the tone of its contagion, guitars and bass aligning in suggestive enterprise as Oates ignites the air with his resourceful tones. Again there is a certain grunge nurtured graining to its melodic rock bred body, the subsequent melody spun twists virulent captivation in nothing but riveting enticement.
Immediately August Parade stamped its authority on attention, the melodic twang of guitar soon followed by the swing of heavy beats and the richer wiry lures escaping guitars as vocals set their insightful contemplation within an Alice in Chains-esque sunset of sound and vibrancy. As its predecessor, the track sets a striking moment within the EP, success quickly emulated by next up Siamese with its rousing and voracious metal steeled rock ‘n’ roll. At times melodic winds temper the tempest but only to escalate the song’s addictive nature and imagination, the later a perpetually evolving treat in a similarly twisting body.
Raised by Wolves closes out with That Girl, a track which maybe has a touch of Stone Temple Pilots to it but proves as individual and rousing as those before it. By now it was proving no surprise that Oates was embroiling a host of varied flavours in his invention wolfish and sound whilst entangling his esurient tones sounds and no surprise that again ears were feasting on a moment in time which left a lingering and enterprising mark on thoughts and a greedy appetite for more which hopefully will soon come our way courtesy of the now highly anticipated Part 2.
Raised by Wolves – Part 1 is available now.
http://www.servantleaderband.com
Pete RingMaster 26/03/2020
Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright
The following God Pretends takes the lead of its predecessor into its own pertinacious onslaught; thrash bred riffs driving the hungry trespass as again the rhythms of bassist KTS and drummer Mehdi bear grudge to the anthemic incitement. The grooves and riffs of guitarists Jay and Alexis entangle in a virulent appropriation of ears and appetite to core the outstanding siege on the senses, the vehemence of vocals extra hostility on one of the album’s major highlights.
The instinctive catchiness of the surging gothic rock/folk scented encounter even in its slower reflective moments is a potent trait across the whole of the album, the following Louder Than Hell similarly an infectiously stirring incitement this time embroiled in a great electronic rock/industrial bred wind across tenacious heavy rock nurtured textures. Vocally Engler and Mia combine to enthralling effect in a chorus which echoes the contagious dynamism of a song which swiftly had the body bouncing though too there is a siren like enchantment to it.
Suffering In Silence follows and quickly lays down its own formidable proposal, rhythms tenaciously marching through a weave of riffs, from which Johnson casts another rich melodic web. Hitting its meaty stroll, contagion soaking sound and vocal attack, the track swings with more of the virulent grooves the band is already proving so fertile with as the bass of Jeff Hinz magnetically growls in the midst of it all, ears and attention eagerly immersed in the thick enterprise making up the welcomed trespass.
Bears and Bulls opens up with Disintegration and straight away guitars are harrying the senses with anthemic energy as rhythms prowl ears and the potent tones of vocalist Tom Procter. The swinging beats of drummer Paul Brander orchestrate the predatory tone of the song with the growl of Steve Burwell’s bass keenly adding to that trespass yet everything about the track is pure contagion, guitarist Philipp Hall weaving a web of hooks and riffs as antagonistic as they are rapaciously catchy.
It begins with the enthralling Miasma, a piece of music which instantly hooked the imagination with its mournful orchestration and melodic melancholy. Its initial portentous breath is soon a tempest of sound and intensity cored by a groove which just seeped under the skin. The predominantly instrumental track provides a deluge of craft and suggestion within its polluted air, closing with the same captivation it rose from before the album’s title track launches its own turbulent contagion.