This Italian band, named after the Streetfighter video game character, specialise in heavy psychedelic sounds and evocative soundscapes. Opener The Child Of The Night Sky is a heady mix of the two with some excellent soaring harmony lead vocals. It’s got a real feel-good aspect to it and while it’s musically a strong concoction it’s the vocals that impress me most. The more concise Collision still manages to find enough time and space to be a twisting maelstrom of wonder. Musically they have similar chops to Monkey3, but again the vocals stand out in a way they rarely do nowadays. Time for a breather with the brooding throb of Dead In The Eye which leaves a lot of space in the mix for the vocals again to stand out. There’s some great riffing highlights too where the band sound like they are jamming and really getting off on playing together. There’s so much to take in and the quality just doesn’t drop at all.
Fragments’’ bright nagging riff is different, with a playful backing track that delights and some inspired lead guitar for good measure. The Promise opens with a tolling bell, chiming riff and secular almost chanted vocals, giving way to euphoric waves of cries of ‘Raise your hand’. The song shapeshifts and changes through different phases and it’s just breath-taking in vision and execution. The bassy rumble of The Veil follows with searing lead guitar that dazzles and a backing track that is catchy and intense. Maybe saving the best to last we get Staring At The Sun which has a killer riff while the song swells, rises and breaks out of your speakers. It’s a super-charged epic end to the album.
This is easily one of the albums of the year. Nothing is less than excellent, and the breadth and scope of their material is jaw-dropping. An absolutely brilliant album!
Listen to The Promise
