Album Type: Album
Date Released: March
11th 2013
Label:
New Damage
Records
Monsoon Season track
listing:
1.
Second Sight
2.
Traitors
3.
All Justice, No Peace
4.
The Quiet Crooks
5.
Married Man
6.
Monsoon Season
Bio:
On
a scale as epic as their name, Toronto quartet Biblical have become
masters at organically creating thunderous rock that is drenched in
haunting, psychedelic tinges. Forming in 2010, the group has
steadily taken their 70’s proto-metal base and amp worship further
and further out into a cosmic-toned trip. The resulting chemicals
have manifested in their forthcoming full-length, Monsoon Season (to
be released on March 11 via New Damage Records).
Kicking
Monsoon Season into full gear is the album’s first track, “Second
Sight,” which received its world premiere recently via Pitchfork.
An introspective and reflective album, Nick Sewell (vocals/bass) says
the album’s title “refers to getting ready for and weathering
storms. Over the past few years, I was dealing with a lot of
personal matters, including deaths in the family. I don’t consider
it a negative album, but it’s reflective of the extremely rough
time I found myself in.”
Comprised
of Sewell, Jay Anderson (drums), Matt Mclaren (guitar/vocals) and
Andrew Scott (guitar/organ), the members of the group previously
served time in Toronto area bands of various musical style including
The Illuminati (formerly on Century Media subsidiary Liquor And Poker
Records), The Bicycles and Steamboat. As Anderson recalls, “When
we originally formed, there was no template for what we wanted to do,
we just wanted to play heavy music.” Sewell adds, “We just spent
nine months, getting together, jamming, drinking beers and let the
style work itself out.”
The
style did indeed come to them and the group found themselves playing
their first show opening up for Danko Jones at a sold out show for an
appreciate audience. With a self-released EP and a roaring live
show, Biblical became a strong act on bills with such names as Kyuss
Lives, Red Fang, Fucked Up, The Sword, Monster Truck, Danko Jones,
Death From Above 1979, and many others.
Constantly
playing their songs as they toured across Canada the band found
themselves taking more and more liberties with arrangements and
integrating eerie dynamics into their already crushing sound. Sewell
says “At one of our recent shows, a fan came up to me and said
‘When you guys started out, it was totally early Motorhead, but now
it’s way more Hawkwind!’ I loved how he compared our evolution
to that.” By the time it came to record Monsoon Season, Biblical
was a different beast. Anderson philosophizes the change in the band
as “sometimes embracing the fear of the bad trip or the bad high,
when things take a dark turn and they’re not going your way, can be
extremely intense and heavy, but that’s not a bad thing to us.”
The
Band Members
Nick
Sewell – Vox/Bass
Matt
McLaren – Guitar/Vox
Jay
Anderson – Drums
Andrew
Scott – Guitar/Organ
Review:
Biblical
are a hotly tipped band from Canada who have just released their
debut album – Monsoon Season – which is one of the most
refreshing debut albums I have heard in a very long time.
Biblical
play a wide range of genres Hard Rock, Psych, Blues and Stoner Rock
for one truly pulsating ride that will have you coming back time and
time again. As Monsoon Season is, the album QOTSA should have made
than their previous last few releases.
Monsoon
Season kicks off with a great blues based hard rock number called
Second Sight that shows a brief glimpse on what to expect for the
next 37 minutes or so. As Biblical unleash a torrent of different
emotions and riffs that will get you rocking out in no time at all.
It definitely has a strange hard rocking vibe to it with lead
vocalist Nick on fine form through out. He feels like an out of
control preacher trying to spread his message of ROCK N ROLL!!!
Though
second track – Traitors – starts of with hazy slice of 60s
Psychedelic Rock which takes you on a beautiful soothing journey
before the band unleash a loud volcanic riff which comes out of
nowhere with blistering vocals & lyrics to match. This is where
the Stoner Rock aspect comes to play though with the band adding
layers of Blues Rock and Space Rock just to make things even more
interesting. This is definitely one of the albums standout tracks.
This track has a lot of SOUL and the band make sure you are aware of
that. Play this one nice and loud.
Biblical
style of music goes from Hard Rock to Stoner Rock and then some huge
layers of metallic riffs when the time calls for it. It is not
exactly metal but it is a lot heavier than some hard rock bands and
that is the beauty of this album as Biblical play with you senses and
emotions as they pack many great ideas, which will have you rocking
out for days.
All
Justice, No Peace once again defies genre expectations starting with
vocals that reminds of an early Josh Homme in his prime. However, the
band still showing their own style of emotionally charged rock n
roll. The lyrics have a real sense of danger and despair to them that
will bring a tear to your eye. However, it is the blazing riffs where
Biblical and the album fully comes to life. These guys are on fire on
this track as around the 3-minute mark one of the best guitar solos
kicks this song into overdrive.
The
Quiet Crooks starts with a lush psych guitar riff matched against
some powerful drumming with Biblical proving their worth once again
as a band with a very bright future indeed. It is a blues psychedelic
number that will soon get under your skin with subtle understated
vocals adding a sense of realism that will last long in the memory.
This is where you will discover what a great band Biblical truly are
as their musical talent shines through out this great track
especially on the last couple of minutes or so.
Married
Man sees Biblical playing to their Hard Rock persona with a tale that
is slightly dangerous, sly and very true to life tale with a great
sense of humour to it. The band are having fun here by having some
sort of mini jam session before unleashing a blaze of powerful
musical thrills and spills that pays homage to the 60s Psych Hard
Rock Scene though matched against modern day hard rock vibes.
Now
we have come to the main event. The last track – Monsoon Season –
a 11 minute epic – which takes everything that has came before it
and turns the album into an epic battle for survival with the band
unleashing some finely tuned riffs that will have you begging for
more. This is the true picture of Biblical showing their arrival to
the world of rock. This is a band who knows how to command the
listener’s attention with a breathtaking tale told through the
power of music. It ends the album on an epic high.
This
album is already causing a storm with the Hard Rock press and it is
not hard to see why. Monsoon Season is simply unmissable. An
outstanding debut album.
Thanks
to Biblical and Zach Shaw at The Syndicate PR for sending me a promo
to review. Biblical is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now from NewDamage Records.
Check
the Band from Links Below
Written
by Steve Howe
