CITY OF THIEVES – Beast Reality [Japan Edition +1] (2018)

British rockers CITY OF THIEVES will release their new album, “Beast Reality”, on October 12th, their first with Frontiers Music. This Japanese edition appears tomorrow, including a bonus track.
The buzz has been spreading about City Of Thieves – no frills, no messin’ around, no gimmicks – it is hard rock in it’s purest form and will send you running straight to the front of the stage with no-nonsense sledgehammer riffs, hooks and melodies.

The band started as FOUR WHEEL DRIVE and during seven years toured and played everywhere, recorded a full length album and two EPs. But then they wanted a more commercial, catchy approach, changed their name to CITY OF THIEVES, and begin to write more focused tunes.
Working with acclaimed artist and producer Toby Jepson (Little Angels, The Answer, Wayward Sons), legendary Mike Fraser on mixing duties, and mastering by Simon Francis, the presentation of this new material was in the best of hands.

When asked what he thought about City Of Thieves, Fraser simply replied, “Killer band… killer songs”. This is not a throwaway comment, this is from a true craftsman who has worked on albums for Metallica, AC/DC, Aerosmith, and more.
“Beast Reality” is all about hot riffs, commanding melodies, and instant choruses, with all songs clocking the 3 minute mark. As you see, to the point rockers.

You can hear Jepson’s touch all over the record – he was involved into songwriting as well and the ‘shape’ of CITY OF THIEVES’ sound.
‘Buzzed up City’ brings to mind Little Angels with a modern twist, ‘Reality Bites’ has the catchiness of The Answer yet grittier, while ‘Control’ is classic rock ‘n roll in its foundation however with some poppy delivery.
At places, the band feels quite commercial, but the overall production & mix adds muscle, plus Jamie Lailey’s raspy vocals creating and edgy output.

Songs like ‘Animal’ or ‘Fuel and Alcohol’ they have no other pretension than fun, and work. With ‘Born to Be Great’ they try some kind of more modern arena-ready rock akin Blackstone Cherry, while ‘Something of Nothing’ is by far the more melodic song on the album, a midtempo with radio potential.
This Japanese version offers a bonus track ‘Something Of Nothing (Acoustic Version)’, but shoulda been titled ‘Different Version’, as it sounds completely distinctive, and I like it this version even more than the original.

CITY OF THIEVES is part of Frontiers Music ‘new breed’ family, the label’s stable of young, up and coming bands who according to them, will be the future of hard rock and metal.
Their debut album with Frontiers, “Beast Reality”, is a solid piece of classic hard rock cleverly shaped in sound to appeal 2018 fans. Old school listeners will enjoy it as well, because, at the end of the day, this is timeless rock n’ roll with an updated patina.
Highly Recommended

01. Reality Bites
02. Fuel and Alcohol
03. Buzzed up City
04. Lay Me to Waste
05. Control
06. Incinerator
07. Animal
08. Right to Silence
09. Born to Be Great
10. Damage
11. Give It Away
12. Something of Nothing
13. Something Of Nothing (Acoustic) (Japan Bonus Track)

Jamie Lailey – Bass, Vocals
Ben Austwick – Guitar
Will Richards – Drums

PRE ORDER:
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/MICP-11443
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