Northern Ireland's Baleful Creed, Fin Finlay (vocals/guitar); John Allen (guitar); Davy Greer (bass/vocals) and Dave Jeffers (drums), often get unfairly tagged with the term "stoner rock" this not to say there is anything wrong with being tagged as "stoner rock" or that there are not aspects of that genre to be found in Baleful Creed's sonic makeup but the truth is that Baleful Creed have more in common with the old school metal and heavy rock of the likes of Thin Lizzy and Thunder than they do with the Kyuss' and Monster Magnet's of this world. Baleful Creed jam grooves that incorporate old school values like melody and swing into their music and combine them with catchy choruses and attention grabbing hooks to create a sound that is as unashamedly as foot tapping as it is moshable, something you will soon come to realise when spinning their latest opus "The Lowdown"
"Mr Grim" opens proceedings and explodes out of the speakers full of raucous swagger and devil may care attitude with drums thundering, bass growling and guitars dialed to maximum crunch . If your not already sold on what you are hearing by now then by the time you get to the sing-a-long while punching the air chorus you most definitely will be. Rocking out on grizzled riffs and head nodding rhythms is Baleful Creed's reason for being and "The Lowdown" justifies that reason , the band bring a priceless feel good factor to their music, with songs like "Pilot My Head", "One Shot" and "Southgate of Heaven", that can't be underestimated or ignored, a feel good factor that is still evident even when the lyrical content gets a little melancholy and retrospective, as on torch-like "Line of Trouble". As the Rolling Stones once sang "It's only rock'n'roll..... but I like it"
With all the fuzz fueled desert riff warriors, downturned doom dealers and throat wrecking sludge lords we the fans of the underground rock scene are exposed to and vigorously seek out on a daily basis it is refreshing to find a band like Baleful Creed keeping true to the values of the music that started the whole rock ball rolling.
Check 'em out ….
© 2020 Frazer Jones
Fabulous review of an incredible Album 😎
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