BLOCK BUSTER – Ain’t On The Chain (2015)
Hailing from Finland, BLOCK BUSTER have been doin’ some noise in the last five years, being “Ain’t On The Chain” their new recording showing how the band has positively evolved.
Since the beginning of their career Block Buster sound has been described as heavily tied to AC/DC’s hard rock book, but I can hear more traditional hard rock influences now.
So, despite of having the Aussie band as reference (who doesn’t?) Block Buster’s style is far more brimmed with energy and attack — in that respect, not unlike an Airbourne, Bullet or even Jettblack.
Opener “Caught In The Crossfire” starts with a classic rock feel, but soon explodes into a quite ’80s hard rockin’ tune with a multi-layered chorus / backing vocals arrangement and an overall US 1988 Californian style (Great White, why not).
Title track “Ain’t On The Chain” follows and it’s a darn catchy bluesy hard rocker driven by a monster pumping bass line, an infectious guitar riff, and again, a contagious chorus.
“Danger Line” goes for a more mid-tempo pace and the motto here is the groove, lots of groove. The chorus is anthemic, huge, massive, and the solo rocks. This is a terrific Eighties styled rocker and one of my favorites.
“To Hell And Back” is a fine example of Block Buster’s head-banging mayhem, complete with furious guitars and a pounding bottom end, then “Devil In You” slows things down just a touch and sounds at times as if it would have fit on Shotgun Messiah‘s Second Coming album.
The fist-in-the-air attack returns during “Bark Of The Underdogs” and bookending this pretty killer album is “Bound To Lose”, a full-speed ahead song that explodes out of the speakers like a blitzkrieg with a flurry of bad attitude and a take-no-prisoners assault.
High energy hard rock is precisely what Block Buster brings to the party — nothing more and nothing less.
The guys play with the necessary rawness to not lose the ‘hard rock grip’ – but do not be fooled, everything here sounds clear and polished, as with every Scandinavian act.
The songs are really catchy, and what I can hear in this new Block Buster material is a notorious improvement in the choruses, they way they are constructed & build-up, turning the tunes much more anthemic, stadium-ready in the ’80s US Californian vein.
Strongly Recommended.
01 – Caught In The Crossfire
02 – Ain’t On The Chain
03 – Danger Line
04 – To Hell And Back
05 – Alive Tonight
06 – Devil In You
07 – Bark Of The Underdogs
08 – Bound To Lose
Aarni Metsäpelto – Vocals, Guitar
Elias Salo – Lead Guitar
Joonas Arppe – Bass
Jaakko Metsäpelto – Drums
BUY IT !
www.recordshopx.com/artist/block_buster/
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