Reviews roundup – Deep Purple vs. 3 Wheeler Band vs. Bad Brad & The Fat Cats vs. Deep In Hate

Reviews roundup – Deep Purple vs. 3 Wheeler Band vs. Bad Brad & The Fat Cats vs. Deep In Hate

DEEP PURPLE
Live In Graz 1975
earMusic

Ahh, MK III Purple, my second favourite lineup of the band.  Which means it’s guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, singer David Coverdale, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, keyboard player Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice who performed at the Liebenauer ice rink, on the outskirts Graz, Austria back in 1975.

It was also the third last show that Blackmore would play with the band, before riding the Rainbow for a few years, so the Rolling Stones mobile was in tow to try and capture the magic.  And if you’ve heard this show before (and you shouldn’t have unless you bought “Mk III: The Final Concerts” back in 1996, which had ‘Mistreated’ and ‘You Fool No One’ on disc two from this show), then you’re in for a treat.

It’s the first time, the whole show has been officially released, and it’s a lot better than some of the other Mk III live music that’s been out there for years.  The version of ‘Burn’ that opens the set is already in my Top 5 versions of ‘Burn’, and the first half of the show is just spectacular, as they rip through ‘Stormbringer’, ‘The Gypsy’, ‘Lady Double Dealer’ and ‘Mistreated’, with even ‘Mistreated’ managing to overcome it’s lumpen qualities.

Then it’s time to roll back the years, with (natch) ‘Smoke On The Water’ before a blistering version of ‘You Fool No One’ and a closing ‘Space Truckin’.  Considering he was working his notice, Mr Blackmore is in fiery form, and this is a record that should ensure your copy of “Made In Europe” stays out of circulation for a long time, especially if you pony up for the vinyl version.

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3 WHEELER BAND
Smoke ‘n’ Groove
self released

And we’re off to Mexico now to catch up with 3 Wheeler Band.  They’ve been on the go since 2010 and this is their début album.  And it’s unusual for me to say that a band is looking North for their influences, when those influences include the likes of ZZ Top and Clutch, but so mote it be.

So they’re a wee bit biker rock, a wee bit stoner and a bit of grunge lite, and Adrian Giron, vocals and guitar, Jose Maldonado, drums, and David Carrillo, bass do a pretty good job of it.  For sure, there isn’t a song that leaps out and punches you between the eyes, but they do knock up a good groove when they put their minds to it.

The best of the bunch are ‘You Ain’t That Lucky’ and ‘Beg For Mercy’, which suggests this would have made a better EP, but if rockin’ is your business, then you might find this a good place to be.

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BAD BRAD & THE FAT CATS
Take A Walk With Me
Brad Stivers

Time to rock some blues now, with Bad Brad & The Fat Cats aka Brad Stivers (guitar and vocals), Alec Stivers (drums) and Nic Clark (moothie), although how Bad Brad is remains to be seen.  This is record is subtitles “Live In The Studio” and sees the Fat Cats augmented with Lionel Young (slide guitar), Dwight Carrier (accordion), Gregg Mackenzie (Harmonica), Bill Shannon (bass), and Alissa Chesis (bass).

And it’s a very enjoyable walk, if you like your blues on the rockin’ side, with a healthy nod of the hat to the likes of Jimmy Reed and Rory Gallagher, even if Brad is doing a fine Joe Bonamassa impersonation on the sleeve. There are some cracking songs, invested with a high energy performance, and when the songs do the requisite arse kicking, then fun is to be had by all.

That arse kicking includes the likes of ‘Train Down South’, the title track and ‘Runnin’ Me Down’.  I reckon they will be awesome in performance, but if you’re thousands of miles away, as I am, this will do just nicely.

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DEEP IN HATE
Chronicles Of Oblivion
Kaotoxin

Say what you like about deathcore.  No, really, that was it.  Say what you like.  Me, I reckon it takes an awful lot of personality to make a deathcore band and album stand out.  Decapitated have managed it, as have a few others.  But I have a hard time telling my Whitechapel from my Gojira.  Which is the sort of talk that would get me barred from the deathcore club, if such a thing existed, and if I wanted to be a member.  (I don’t).

Which brings us to French deathcore band, Deep In Hate.  It’s a good name, and it’s a cracking album cover.  So you have my attention.  And you managed to hold, so well done.  That may be because Deep In Hate have a lot of death metal influences in there.  And as someone who is old enough to remember when death metal was invented, that warms the cockles of my heart.

There are some good riffs, fantastic drums, and a bit of variety to the paint stripping vocals.  I’d be hard pushed to pick out ‘Altars Of Lies’ and ‘Wingless Gods’ in a blind competition, but within the confines of the album, they really stand out.  Fans of Aborted will be delighted to know that the drummer for the band is actually the former drummer for Aborted, and the current Aborted vocalist appears as a guest vocalist on the latter named tune, but the rest of us will shake our heads with fury, and move along.

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