One of the best things about doing this website for eight years is that I’ve been able to watch bands develop. It was way back in 2016 that an outfit called Black Cat Bones released an EP, and it was ace. We said so.
By 2019 that group had become Revival Black, altered the sound slightly, changed singer and we said their album was ace too.
Pandemics and all that mean I’ve only seen the five piece play live once, just before Christmas last year when they opened for Vega and their set was a cracker (puns intended, I know how to write this stuff….) but right at the end of the review for that gig, I said that Revival Black were “A band with a lot to look forward to moving forward.”
I didn’t know at the time I typed those words that “Under The Light” was in the works, but I should claim some kind of prescience, given that this is the record they’ve promised for ages. This is the one they can really move forward with.
They are still the band they always were, but they’ve just upped…everything. The chorus of “Believe”- (and these lads are a set that clearly does just that) underlines it. It soars. High – and that’s just Dan Byrne’s voice – and is the work with a confidence.
They’d played that song at the Vega gig. So they clearly know how good it is, but “….Light” is no one trick pony, or an album where there’s one or two decent songs and a shed load of filler. No. This is all to a high standard. Premier League dreams on a League One budget, but no one told Alan Rimmer and Adam Kerbache that dreams don’t come true. Sometimes. “Take You Out” and “See You Again” see the two trade licks, and both are as good as hard rock gets.
RB have a neat thing going on. Essentially their riffs sound filthy, but the lyrics have a seriousness. “Broken Home” – you’d imagine written from a place where they understand – was a worthy single, chugging as it does, while “Hemispheres” is a proper acoustic driven power ballad that you might not have imagined. Proper tenderness here.
Because in my head its still about 1989, I think of albums in terms of sides. So Side 2 begins with a bass groove from Jamie Hayward and a choppy, swinging groove that morphs into a slice of fantastic stuff called “Under Fire” .
“Left Behind” seemingly exists to prove that Revival Black have a better singer than your group, with the caveat that Alter Bridge have got Gold Discs for less, and “Change My Mind” isn’t certain that the 90s happened never mind the 21st century. It never sounds dated, though and that’s basically what this lot does.
“Wrong Side” follows the formula of “opening riff, massive chorus” but adds a “whoah, whoah” hook which you have to love and on an album where each member of the band gets chance to shine, then “Hurricane” belongs to drummer Ash Janes. He anchors it down with a laser-like precision.
Not just because Byrne sounds a bit like Myles Kennedy, but just generally, this has the feel of a Slash studio effort. But with one crucial difference. “Under The Light” doesn’t mess with excess fat. It is lean, mean and ready to go for it.
Rating 9/10
