HEARTS & HAND GRENADES – Turning To Ashes (2021)
HEARTS & HAND GRENADES is an explosive American hard rock group from Buffalo, NY fronted by Stephanie Wlosinski on lead vocals and bass guitar. HEARTS & HAND GRENADES was originally founded as a cover band in 2012 by guitarist Mike Bress, but with Stephanie aboard they started to write their own songs inspired by the genre’s classic style, and the result is their debut album ”Turning To Ashes”
So if you like it hard n’ heavy – with a modern sound – then you’ll most probably love this.
The vocals are quite something and compliment the music well and opener ‘Turning To Ashes’ should be more than enough to keep you interested. Indeed it’s the next rack ‘For The Weakened’ that turns the dial a little more – almost as if each song is a fist-aloft battle cry to the faithful just like the wonderful ‘Adrenaline’ that hits later.
Elsewhere when the pace drops and they give the songs a little more space to breathe like on ‘Daggers’ they prove that they are more than a one-trick pony, and the accomplished ballad ‘Hide’ further emphasises their abilities.
If there’s one fault with this debut its only it’s brevity – 8 tracks leave us hungry for more, though of course it’s all relative and I for one would prefer 8 great tracks than a handful of gratuitous filler.
The most interesting pointer to another layer entirely hidden beneath the rock solid Hard Rocking bluster is in the languid Country verses and hard rocking choruses of ‘The In Crowd’ which make a fun song and prove that the band isn’t inclined to stick to a template.
Sadly there’s only one more track – the brooding, building rocker ‘My Sickness’ – another impressive cut. But the band is already recording new material.
Very nice start to the year from a band with an excess of promise.
Highly Recommended
01 – Turning To Ashes
02 – For The Weakened
03 – Daggers
04 – I Hide
05 – Adrenaline
06 – Nothing Left
07 – The In Crowd
08 – My Sickness
Stephanie Wlosinski (lead vox, bass)
Mike Bress (guitar, keyboards)
Kenny Blesy (lead guitar)
Tom Lafferty (drums)
Pre Order:
www.amazon.com/Turning-Ashes-Explicit-Hearts-Grenades/dp/B08KRW9M5J
