Vallenbrosa - Hessian Mercenaries
As a long-time music critic, I have a simple confession to make of this business I'm in. At the end of the day, the EP just might be the most incredible form of audio recording yet perfected. Why you ask? The EP forces a band to use only their best two-three songs; in one fell swoop, an act can either perfect their sound for possible fans or undermine it entirely by ignoring their personal strengths. This trend towards concise and overwhelming success forces the hand of fate in guiding acts to short, sweet statements of intent, and is probably the best medium for someone like myself to sink their teeth into new or up-and-coming acts.
So what do Vallenbrosa have to say for themselves on their Hessian Mercenaries EP then? As a band hailing from Southern England, the last thing one could probably expect from Vallenbrosa is catchy, groove-oriented, Southern-tinged hard rock, but that is what Vallenbrosa does. Clipping by in a meager fifteen minutes rounded out in three songs, the Hessian Mercenaries EP showcases a crisp, dynamic set from a band few people on this side of the Atlantic will be quick to hear.
And thus, we enter the point of this review. With the concept of Southern rock still gaining ground in the British underground, spirited takes on the traditionally American genre are bound to occur and someone needs to sort it all out. Enter me. It is my opinion that Hessian Mercenaries is a fist-pumping sampler devoted to rock's earlier balls-to-the-wall approach. Loud, rattling, and with a clearly defined sense of groove, this EP showcases a band both powerful and accessible at the same time.
The snap of drummer Dave Baker's commanding skins opens "The Hessian" in just this fashion, being both memorable and kickass. The song's cocky, swaggering riffs collide in spectacular fashion with the warbling sing-songs of vocalist Nik Taylor; this fusion works very well and offers the right mix of aggressive showboating and vulnerable, soaring choruses. The rock on offer here is simplistic and thankfully so; this is just fun music, plain and simple. A bit of melodic wanking towards song's end offers a bit of added spice, and "Hessian" closes with a haymaker of groove, the kind of punchy riffs that bands like the Sword can write in their sleep.
"A Smooth Rejection" harkens to the melodic simplicity of Metallica's clean guitar intros like "Enter Sandman." Poignant and moody, the song soon transforms into a pounding swell of catchy chugging not unlike earlier Avenged Sevenfold. It is just heavy enough where a person can be forgiven for singing along, yet never crushing to the point of alienating extremity. There is a faint Corrosion of Conformity tone to the guitars too, though at the end of the day this has the most to do with the aforementioned Avenged Sevenfold, later Metallica, or recent Trivium. "A Smooth Rejection" takes all these bands and fuses their heavy-handed form of mainstream rock and makes it their own, the end result being an empowering but sugary hard rock anthem.
"Small Town Blues" sounds like the Sword jamming out an anti-suburbs ballad with Pantera's younger, kinder brother. The grooves are fairly deep but always warm and organic in that Clutch kind of style; there is plenty of distortion but little of the earbleed-causing insanity some bands occasionally favor. As biting and confrontational as the lyrics are, things never stray far from radio-rock friendly stylings and overall the song once again manages to balance hooks with beatdowns. A meandering solo amidst a massive chugging slam-dance closes things down on a mildly anti-climatic note, but overall this is solid stuff for the hard rock genre and well-written as well.
All this brings me down to the point of it all; in this day and age there exists a paradigm shift. Said reversal of fate has crafted a music universe in which things are either unbearably sickening in their poppiness, or extreme solely to alienate the mainstream. Gone are the days when acts like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and others bridged the grounds between both. I'm not calling Vallenbrosa "the next big thing" or anything absurdly pretentious like that, but as far as heavy but inviting rock music goes this is probably the best you can get now. If you don't believe me, see how they fare in a later edition of my column as I review their 2007 Hessian Mercenaries full-length album. My guess is it is going to be a keeper. In the meantime, track this down and have a tiny taste for yourself.Vallenbrosa's Hessian Mercenaries EP
1. The Hessian
2. A Smooth Rejection
3. Small Town Blues Final Rating: 3 out of 5.
Rating:
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