Reviews roundup – Krissy Matthews vs. Carbonine vs. Nachstatten vs. Tipsy Road vs. Fried Goat

Reviews roundup – Krissy Matthews vs. Carbonine vs. Nachstatten vs. Tipsy Road vs. Fried Goat

KRISSY MATTHEWS
Scenes From A Moving Window
Promise Records

And we’re kicking off the day with “Scenes From A Moving Window”, the fourth album from the still baby-faced blues rocker Krissy Matthews.  It sees him joining forces with former Cream lyricist Pete Brown, who also sits in the producers chair and they’ve done a good job.

The songs seem more rooted in melody than before, and the overall sound is better rounded.  There are also some cracking tunes, which always helps, and when young Master Matthews heads off into number such as ‘Day By Day’, ‘Roadsick Blues’ and ‘If I Had A Time Machine’ you can tell that he could end up as a masterful performer.  There are some excellent arrangements, and the supporting cast all do their jobs well.

There are a couple of songs which seem to go a bit off track, especially ‘Can’t Get It Down On Paper’, but that’s all that stops this from moving from VG+ to EX.

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CARBONINE
Rebirth
independent

Next it’s off to Long Beach, California.  A town that my aunt and uncle used to live in, so Carbonine are practically family.  Just as well they’re pretty good, then, or we’d have some awkward silences at Christmas dinner.  What they are is a fairly traditional heavy rock band, with a few nu-metal influences which they, thankfully, keep to a minimum.

Mike Godoy, Ian Rico, Alex Ascha and Mitchell Wolkowo (although its former bassist Andrew Bushong on the CD) certainly know how to bash out a good tune, some of which seem very Dokken like in nature (ask your Dad).  They really are good on hard-edged songs like ‘Take It All The Way’, but manage to impress on a power ballad as well.  Not something many bands can pull off but ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ really works well.

At times they head off into Alice In Chains territory and my interest flags slightly, but even then there is more than enough to suggest that Carbonine could develop into something very good indeed.

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NACHTSCHATTEN
Prolog
Sonic Revolution

Melodic death metal time with German band Nachtschatten (Night Shadow), who’ve released their debut album “Prolog”.

You won’t be in the least bit surprised to learn that they are very influenced by the Gothenburg sound, because what up and coming melodic death band isn’t.  I’m sure they’ve all got the In Flames and At The Gates back catalogues close to hand, and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you add something of your own to the mix.

And Nachtschatten manage that in places, and that’s when things get good.  For sure, a lot of it is by the numbers, but on the likes of “Blitzschlag” and “Takt der Maschinen” you get the idea that they could develop into something rather good.  They could have dropped a couple of songs from the running order, as they do run out of steam towards the end of the twelve tracks, but if they work at it, the next one could be interesting.

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TIPSY ROAD
Chronicles From Another Sea
independent

Oh, hello!  This is rather good.  And certainly not what I was expecting.  I’d guessed at raggle tag shanties based on the title and cover, but what you’re actually getting is some rather splendid and off kilter prog meets folk.

Turns out this EP is a follow-up to their 2013 debut album, and if this is anything to go by, then it’s something worth hunting down.  There are a lot of acoustic instruments on display, but they never sacrifice the performance power or lapse into whimsy.

There is the occasional jazz lick and the odd moment of fusion, but when they get their seventies thang on to good effect, as on ‘Another Sea’ and ‘Far Away, Far Beyond’, then this is the kind of thing you really do need to hear.  Someone should take a chance on this lot, because they should be on an international stage, not just a Swiss one.

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FRIED GOAT
Fried Goat
independent

That’s a terrible name for a band, that is.  And with a cover that looks like a black metal cast off, I nearly didn’t bother taking the clingfilm off.  But I did, and when I saw the phrase “Mastered by Rodney Mills”, then I couldn’t get it into the CD player fast enough.

See, to those of us a certain age and musical persuasion, the name Rodney Mills is synonymous with the greats of southern rock.  Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, 38 Special, Gregg Allman, The Outlaws and many more.  He worked with them all, as a producer and engineer.

So Fried Goat can add their name to a worthy list, and even if they insist that their music is more than just “southern rock”, the Georgia based band are just that.  I know it the term has a bit of a tarnished legacy, but on their second album, Fried Goat show that they could end up as good as their predecessors.

The opening number, ‘Remember’ is as good as it gets, a bit rough and ready, but a cracking song.  And even if they do get a bit college rock in places, there is always a song like ‘Takeaway’, ‘She Makes Mistakes’ or ‘Fake Lumberjack Blues’ just around the corner to remind you of how good they can be.  I’m not 100% taken with their version of the Charlie Daniels Band classic ‘Long Haired Country Boy’, but anything that keeps his name in lights is fine by me.

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