Firebrand Super Rock-Firebrand Super Rock

Rising Records
2011



To steal a line from Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles "...What in the Wide World of Sports is a-going on here?" with that lame as all get out name? Are you serious? Pretentious much or did you purposely go out of your way to come up with the most goofy name you could think of? So many questions here for this hard rock/heavy metal four piece. Formed in Edinburgh in late 2004 this 10 track album is the band's debut. Just for the record the band lists bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Black Sabbath as influences and if it wasn't for the fact that I first heard one of the band's better songs on a Metal Hammer sampler disc (the cool "Wheel Of Pain") I'm not sure if I would have taken the chance to bother. It wasn't a perfect track or anything mind you but it did show enough swagger to at least get me interested in hearing the full-length. These Scottish rockers are lead by the very talented Laura Donelly and my first thought upon hearing more from this band was a more Black Sabbath shaped Skew Siskin. Although with the nods towards Black-era Metallica and some chunky (if not very inspired) Motorhead riffs one could argue that Firebrand Super Rock are more metal than Skew Siskin. If anything though the band's approach pulls in AC/DC barroom blues and a shot or two of sludge making the album interesting if not spectacular. For a debut it has a certain charm and I have nothing against bands wanting to play good old fashioned hard rock/heavy metal like this. But, if I was to be a cynic I'd say this doesn't stand out much from a slew of other female-fronted hard and heavy rock acts. That said they get an "A" for effort and with some work I could see these guys (and gal!) do some great things down the line. If I could chat with the band I'd say do your best to loosen up and dirty your sound some. Make it have some sweat and grit and maybe next time around try some more sludge/stoner rock as well. You can here a bit of Down in their music and a shade or two of Soundgarden. That said though it almost seems as if Firebrand Super Rock are afraid to really rock out and honestly they play it far too safe and too close to the chest. The sound tends to come off as almost flat at times even if it is high-end garage rock/metal. By their next album I would love to see the band let their hair down and just jam a little. If and only if the band commits to getting their hands dirty some then I could see a marked improvement with album number two. As the band grows and gets some miles under their wheels I could see good things coming their way. Right now though this is a decent enough album and I won't say do buy it or check it out since believe it or not after all is said and done I really did enjoy the disc and it does rock. But, at the same time I would never say this is a must-own. In the end it is just one of those albums that falls somewhere between decent and good.