Mega-hyped British classic rockers enter the fray with their debut album.
The Black Spiders – Sons Of The North
RockOSaurus Says:
The Black Spiders have been making waves in the underground for the last couple of years, so their debut arrives to the jubilation of fans who have been eager for this LP to drop. Needless to say it was worth the wait!
Each track is a blast of machismo guitar power and energy which does great honour to the Rock Gods.. Not a song goes by without at least one uplifting vocal line, bluesy beer swilling guitar lick or addictive melody. There isn’t a great deal of originality found on Sons Of The North, but they stick to their guns, doing it classic rock style better than almost anyone else in the current rock crop.
Album opener Stay Down sets the tone of what’s yet to come. It’s a brutal all out air-raid assault with it’s unrelenting, uncompromising rock muscle played at breakneck speed. Easy Peasy showcase their poppier side with a female guest vocalist adding some flair to its mid-tempo melodies. Blood Of The Kings is about as varied as they come. During its 7 minute stay we get some pounding head bop friendly crunching riffs, dual guitar solo’s, dramatic halts, bold bass melodies, epic crescendo’s and even a short vocal skit aside to fade. This and St. Peter‘s slow groove heavy blues shuffle, with its simple but effective vocals, loud soft dynamic and a wicked wah-waaaahhhhed solo shows they are anything but one trick ponies.
The fact they still have their sense of humour intact sees a band loving what their doing and having fun with it too, as seen with lyrics such as “Eat Thunder! Shit Lightning!” on the rousing album curtain call What Good’s A Rock Without A Roll all the while KISS Tried To Kill Me proclaims “It was Gene Not Paul” and “It Wasn’t Ace’s Fault”… apparently.
Through all their touring they have clearly refined these tune to the perfect hard hitting rockers they are today, displaying some excellent song craft and a gift for incessantly catchy hard rock. Every songs demand your attention and wills you to stand up and salute each and every one them (preferably wearing your favourite classic rock T-shirt, beer in hand, down the front at one of their live shows)!
The Black Spiders have arrived!
Mr Flowers Says:
Sons of the North apes classic rock forebears like AC/DC and Black Sabbath like it’s going out of fashion… oh, I see. Luckily given the rumblings this band has been generating in the “underground” classic rock scene, Black Spiders show themselves to be fine exponents of the genre. There’s riffage galore throughout the album; really, you couldn’t get away from them if you wanted. Stay Down which starts the album at a ferocious pace sports a simply monstrous solo to finish.
A light-hearted approach on KISS Tried To Kill Me gains approval as it neatly side steps that age old problem for bands of this ilk taking themselves too seriously. Other songs of note include Easy Peasy, which feature guest female vocals for a, now sadly rare, rock duet. St Peter starts slowly, builds to a plodding pace before a bit of quiet finally bursts into a cool solo and riff mid way through, a good song. The curtain closer, What Good’s A Rock Without A Roll, shows the band do have some craft by cutting the guitars over the verses without making it less rocky (that was a reference to one of the lyrics, in case you missed it), only to increase the effectiveness of the guitars when they bring them back.
Some songs err on the forgettable side, like Just Like A Woman, Medusa’s Eyes, the Metallica-esque Si, el Diablo and… I forget. Whereas Blood Of The Kings‘ shortcoming is that it’s just plain too long amongst all the short blasts of rock the album offers, while not quite capturing the essence of a great Black Sabbath song. All though, despite their foibles, are flush with excellent solos so if that’s a key criteria for you, you’ll be more than happy having bought this album.
RockOSaurus: 9/10
MrFlowers: 7/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 8/10
Listen to Black Spiders – Sons Of The North now on Spotify!
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