Wicked Stone – “Ain’t No Rest” (Album Review)
15th November 2017As we all know, music goes through phasesâŚstyles change, tastes change, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, but it happens regardless and, recently a lot of musicians have rekindled their love for all things southernâŚyes blues based hard rock is all the rage right now thanks to artists such as BLACK STONE CHERRY (For the record the gratitude is tongue in cheek) and up and down the UK bands are getting their groove on quicker than you can take a shot of bourbon. The trouble is (And this happened during the big emo boom for example) with lots of bands emerging with a similar style, you develop an over-saturation and no matter how good a band may be technically, they just fall into the bracket of âoh, another southern rock bandâ and your interest is immediately diminished âŚwell one band hoping to evade such stigma is WICKED STONE. The band (Consisting of vocalist Joe Hawx, guitarists Ryan Stageman and James Forrister, drummer Olly Smith and bassist James Amos) from Kent have recently released their debut album âAinât No RestââŚhow wicked are they? Letâs find outâŚ
The album opens up with the title track and weâre instantly met with that recognizable groove-laden hard rock barrage of riffs, it ticks all the right boxes and even vocally itâs like Joe has a certain twang to his voice here, really emphasizing the southern state roots of the genre, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say. Musically it lies somewhere between THE ANSWER and REVOKER, especially in the chorus and with the chugging guitar tone too, itâs a decent opener. âHit It âNâ Quit Itâ utilizes a similar approach and here the riffs seem that bit heavier, certain guitar licks in places arenât too dissimilar to the style of Zakk Wylde, the sluggish breakdown midway through the track does add a fair dose of weight to the track and if anything it makes the rest of the track that much more enjoyable as you appreciate itâs groove all the more. The real highlight though is âThe Endâ and for once Iâm not sarcastically referencing the album finishingâŚthe intro sequence is properly infectious and the track as a whole has a really solid rhythm, this is the meat and potatoes of the album right hereâŚI mean Iâm no masseuse but, this end is happy.
The rest of the album has itâs subtle faults howeverâŚâOne Timeâ is considerably lethargic and despite decent production quality itâs for the most part uninspiring, the key change sounds a little off and the solo here honestly sounds a little forced, like theyâre trying too hard in ways, like itâs been thrown in to fit some criteriaâŚitâs one of the albums weakest momentsâŚthe opening lyrics to âAnother Roundâ bug me in all honestyâŚâKicking back, drinking Jack, yeah itâs going downâŚLifeâs a party no relaxing gonnaâ tear up the townââŚthis is just, contradictory nonsense, are you kicking back or not? I digressâŚthe rest of the album can come across as formulaic and on times repetitive and although it has good sound quality, the actual content is on times, generic. To be fair itâs not a terrible record by any means, the guyâs goneâ done goodâŚ.but itâs not wicked per se…
Score: 5 Out Of 10
Wicked Stone Ain’t No Rest Album Info
Track List
- 1] “Ain’t No Rest”
- 2] “One Time”
- 3] “Another Round”
- 4] “Hit It ‘N’ Quit It”
- 5] “Get In Or Get Out”
- 6] “Slide Baby”
- 7] “Rattleshake”
- 8] “Sick In Love”
- 9] “The End”
- 10] “Set Me On Fire”
