Hydrovibe - Nothing Left To Lose

Hydrovibe - Nothing Left To Lose
2009, Orleans Street Records

Hydrovibe has had their share of luck since vocalist Heather St. Marie and guitarist Mat Duzat began working together back in Louisiana. As the band finished recording their first full length album Nothing Left To Lose in 2006, they received notice that their song "Killer Inside" would be featured in SAW III. Quickly switching gears Hydrovibe cut a 5-song EP (including "Killer Inside") to take advantage of the publicity the song placement would bring. Four years later and Nothing Left To Lose finally sees the light of day. With production by Tom Fletcher (Ozzy Osbourne, Motorhead), mixing and re-tracking by Kenny Lamb (The Doors, Keane) and a mixing assist from Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne), Nothing Left To Lose has lost little in the interim.

Hydrovibe opens with "Fifteen Minutes", a heavy anthem built on a solid hook and memorable chorus. Vocalist St Marie takes after the celebrity obsessed culture we live in, bemoaning a values system that places an individual’s fifteen minute of fame over almost anything. St. Marie has a voice that can blow you away or lull you into submission, with a dark tone that's gorgeous and scary all at once. "Disconnect Me" is a solid album track, full of great harmonies and a dynamic vocal line. After a solid start things get spotty for Hydrovibe. "Liberate" features some unusual song construction and really isn't a bad tune but gets a little too wrapped up in repetition. "The Devil Comes Disguised As A Friend" is the heaviest track on the album; high powered yet with a sense of control beneath the anger and vitriol.

"Shallow Grave" is an intriguing number. Solid vocal harmonies encapsulate real angst and stress in the arrangement. Unfortunately the song devolves into a repetitive template of pop/metal that will play well to Modern Rock and Edge radio, but fails to maintain the highly charged potency the song starts out with. Hydrovibe takes listeners on an interesting three song trip with "Reborn", "Suture" and "Fame". "Reborn" is a transitional bit of ambient rock; a slightly surprising turn from a band capable of rocking so hard. The song stands out more what it's not than what it is and is a nice change of pace. "Suture" is pure heavy fun, the sort of song that inspires teenage boys (and girls) to strap on a six string and start blasting out power chords. "Fame" bookends the experience with a big hook, tight arrangement and tremendous harmonies. In this moment Hydrovibe recalls the best of 1980's hair metal.

Realizing there are four songs at the end of Nothing Left To Lose, the review ends here, in acknowledgement that sometimes you have to know when to quit. "Contagious", "Evil Side", "Nothing Left To Lose" and "Liberation" add little to the experience (other than the album title). The songs aren't bad, they just don't fit here, and sometimes less really is more. Hydrovibe manages to create some great moments on Nothing Left To Lose, but a trimmer album (or even EP) would pack a lot more punch in terms of quality and continuity. This is a risk anytime an album sits for several years and is revisited. It would be curious to hear the original composition and sound Hydrovibe had at the close of the 2006 recording sessions.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Hydrovibe at http://www.hydrovibe.com/ or www.myspace.com/hydrovibe.  Nothing Left To Lose is available from Amazon.com as both a CD and Download.  CDs and merchandise are also availble from the band's webstore.  Digital copies are available from iTunes.

Review: Fozzy - Chasing The Grail

Fozzy - Chasing The Grail
2010, Riot! Entertainment

Fozzy has a long and inglorious history. Started as an Ozzy Osbourne cover band (Fozzy Osbourne) by members of Stuck Mojo, the band had a fateful meeting with WWE star Chris Jericho after a wrestling event in 1999. Jericho sat in with the band for a few shows but thought nothing serious of the collaboration. An ankle injury in 2000 that sidelined Jericho from wrestling brought him back to the band on a permanent basis. In the early days, Jericho performed as Mongoose McQueen, and Fozzy worked with a back story of having worked for twenty years in Japan under a music craft. Returning to the US, Fozzy found that a number of their songs had been "stolen" by major acts. Consequently, Fozzy's first two albums included covers of major rock and metal acts of songs supposedly written by Fozzy. In recent years Fozzy has moved to original material, gaining significant critical acclaim from the Rock media establishment that's lead to significant album sales and world tours. In January of 2010, Fozzy released their fifth album, Chasing The Grail. It's their best yet.

Fozzy opens with Under Blackened Skies, sounding like a cross between Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne. Under Blackened Skies is both tremendously aggressive and musical at the same time; high powered heavy metal with enough polish to reign on the Modern Rock charts as well. Martyr No More, chosen as a WWE theme for Wrestlemania, is built on a delicious riff. The song has great energy and a chorus that's pure, classic Rock N Roll. Grail features some delicious guitar work that can only be described as aggressively melodic. Grail is a powerful tune with something of a morality tale woven in.

Broken Soul is the sort of Pop-Inflected metal anthem that tops charts, launches sold-out tour and otherwise saturates airwaves until you can't even stand to hear the opening three notes of the song. Its tremendous songwriting with big harmonies a sing-along chorus; a certain Top-10 hit (at least). On Let The Madness Begin, Fozzy heads back to the abyss with a heavy melodic rocker loosely about temptation, spiritual warfare and giving in to our darker selves. The song is very catchy memorable and rocks like nobody's business. Pray For Blood is a big radio-oriented rocker that borders on mess but never really disintegrates. The song is strong from the perspective of sound and fury but lacks the cohesion that Fozzy displays on most of Chasing The Grail.

New Day's Dawn turns out to be a tough transition, with Jericho singing in a falsetto voice in an arrangement that's thoroughly out of character with the rest of the album. Rather than playing as a respite or illustrative diversion the song serves as a jarring slam on the breaks on a runaway train no one wants to stop. Fozzy gets a measured start forward with God Pounds His Nails, a powerful but trite song about the inevitability of life and consequence before sliding through the formulaic and bland Watch Me Shine.

Fozzy returns in full force on Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Friday The 13th), with flailing guitars, Metallica-style drum beats and a vocal line that explodes like a cannon-ball. Revival slows things down a tad for a heavy ballad that comes from the Ronnie James Dio/Sabbath school of Rock N Roll. Revival is full of hope; a jettisoning of the bad karma of Let The Madness Begin. Rich Ward's guitar work is creative and intricate, and the rhythm section of Frank Fontsere and Sean Delson fills the song with a driving menace. Fozzy closes in revelatory fashion with Wormwood, a nearly-fourteen minute mini-opera about the end of times written from the perspective of one who witnesses the spiritual wars accompanying the tribulation. The song is powerful and disturbing, transcending its genre to an uncomfortable art form. It's actually quite a wonderfully unsettling creation that adheres to the events detailed in the Book of Revelation and sets them against a dark and creative Progressive Metal arrangement.

It's often the projects that start out as an outlet that turn into something big. Fozzy started as a knock-off cover band for established musicians from Stuck Mojo; a play-thing to create a sense of musical balance that was fun and a step away from their day jobs. A decade later, you could argue that Fozzy is one of the more innovative (and commercially successful) metal bands stomping the floorboards of stages the world over. Chasing The Grail is the definitive work from a band whose arc is still rising. It's easy to imagine Fozzy one day taking their rightful places in Cleveland. The scary part is they just keep getting better.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Fozzy at http://www.fozzyrock.com/ or www.myspace.com/fozzytour. You can purchase Chasing The Grail as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Modern Science - Modern Science

Modern Science - Modern Science
2009, MIMORTL Records

Las Vegas-based duo Modern Science has forsaken their generation's obsessively melancholic musical angst in favor of old-fashioned fun-time Rock N Roll with a modern edge. Songwriter/guitarist/lead singer Kane Churko met bassist/backing vocalist Mike McHugh through MySpace in the midst of a troubled solo project entitled Mr. Kane. Finding an instant bond, the duo was born and took the moniker Modern Science as their own. Add in production from Juno Award winning producer, and father of Kane, Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Shania Twain, Phil Collins), and the end result is an energetic and infectious collection of ten songs entitled Modern Science.

Modern Science is great for the first seven songs. There's an element of Devo-esque geek chic that runs deep below the surface of wonderfully constructed pop gems. Look Where You're Walkin' is funky and infectious bit of modern guitar Pop you won't be able to get out of your head. Every Little Thing has some serious hooks and is very danceable. I'm The One (Pick Me) is the highlight of the album. This song could be a top ten single on the Pop charts with the right support. It's that rare rock/pop song that would be as accessible to the club and dance scenes as it would be to mainstream and AAA radio. Release this in May and you have a potential "summer song" that will be around for years. Baby Please has a bit of a classic Motown sound to it and is highly entertaining and danceable. Modern Science changes the vibe a bit on the virulently electro-rock Whatever You Say, and then again as they bring the funk on U Funk Me Up. Even the modern rock meets Devo sound of Desperately fits perfectly with the dynamic Modern Science has established on their self-titled debut.

By the time we get to the last three songs it seems like Modern Science has exhausted their A material and picked out a few songs to fill out the album. While good, these last three just don't have the energy or urgency that characterizes Modern Science up until this point. While this may have been a conscious choice, and the songs themselves aren't bad, they are a bit of a come down from the first seven.

Modern Science has a great, catchy pop sound that is bound to grab some attention. If another golden age of Pop/Rock music is about to start then don't be surprised if Modern Science is one of the bands at the forefront. The first seven songs here are Desert Island material; the last three worthy listens. All in all, Modern Science is an outstanding effort. Make sure these guys are on your "got to check them out" list.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Modern Science at http://www.themodernscience.com/. You can purchase a copy of Modern Science at www.cdbaby.com/cd/modernscience.

Review: Ecotone Refugees - Water Is Rising

Ecotone Refugees - Water Is Rising
2008, Echo Orange Music

Ecotone Refugees come barreling out of the vibrant Brooklyn Indie rock scene with a sound that is reminiscent of Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and Queens Of The Stone Age without really sounding like any of them. A modern rock psychedelic band with a shredder on lead guitar and a vocalist who sounds like Ozzy Osbourne had a child with Eddie Vedder is going to attract attention, and Ecotone Refugees definitely attract attention. Their debut album, Water Is Rising was released in 2008 and makes quite an impression.

Ecotone Refugees are a conglomerate of true music professions. Johnny Young lends vocals, guitar, Moog and keys. Outside of the band he is also a producer and composer who has provided music for the Oprah Winfrey show. Sean Egan (guitar, Moog, bass) is a shredder in the first degree and loves to play with dynamics and time signatures. David Weise chips in on vocals and bass, and drummer Michael Galante is a Berklee College of Music grad. Suffice it to say Ecotone Refugees aren't your typical rock bruiser. It's no surprise then how varied and complex the songs on Water Is Rising truly are. The album opens with Marathon, an Ozzy-era Sabbath-esque rocker built on some very interesting guitar work. Wake Up is a big, straight up rocker with Moog effects and an anti-war message. This is probably the least compelling song on the album, but still a decent listen.

Losing Your Faith is the sort of heavy rocker that would have ruled AOR radio in the early 1980's. Psychedelic bridges and big driving guitars give this song a distinctive sound that stands out. Lost In You is an interesting mix. There's a pop sensibility in the hook-laden song (even if the hooks are anti-pop). The chorus is classic punk rock and the song is a clear dichotomy that reflects the divergent sounds Ecotone Refugees pursue. Cyclone is a raucous old-school rock tune based on a classic Moog sound and surf-style guitar. B-Squad Brothers is feel good Rock N Roll in a classic 1960's format. Water Is Rising is pure psychedelia, Pink Floyd style. Nine and-a-half minutes of pure rock ambience.

Ecotone Refugees march musical ground that's been covered for years and yet they seem to find a way to sound fresh and new even while paying tribute to some of the biggest names in Classic Rock. Water Is Rising has the same sort of iconic feel about it that Pearl Jam had in their early days. If you love great classic rock sounds with a modern edge, then Water Is Rising (and Ecotone Refugees) is for you.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Ecotone Refugees at www.myspace.com/ecotonerefugees. You can purchase a copy of Water Is Rising at www.cdbaby.com/cd/ecotonerefugees.