STONE BROKEN – Revelation +1 (2022)

One of 0dayrox team favorite modern hard rock bands, British STONE BROKEN, are releasing a new CD titled “Revelation”, the follow-up to the really good 2018’s ‘Ain’t Always Easy’. Born from a desire to push themselves into new realms of musical creativity, ‘Revelation‘ sees Stone Broken storming into rock’s big leagues. The songwriting is stronger than never before, anthemic, huge songs with melody and punch.
Having partnered with award-winning producer and former SikTh guitarist Dan Weller back in early 2019, both artist and producer hit it off right from the get-go. For this new album the band shared lots of new ideas, experimenting with aspects of electronic sound design and fusing different strands of their more straight-ahead hard rock with darker elements – something front man, Rich Moss, and drummer / backing vocals Robyn Haycock, had long wanted to try.
Moss said: “We had a completely different approach on this record compared to our previous, we wanted to try everything, we wanted to experiment, we wanted to build our sound from the ground up and totally re-imagine the ‘Stone Broken Sound’, BUT without losing what we already had”.

The album title may be ”Revelation” but it should have been ‘reinvention’. The changes are huge, the changes are strong and the changes are stunning. I have to admit to not being a fan of over tinkering with a formula that obviously works or those over produced vocals but holy crap this album has left me a bit speechless.

This album is a game changer for the band. They already were one of the big names in the NWOCR genre but this is a whole new level. Producer Dan Weller has had such a huge influence on the band I can only liken it to Bob Rock and the Metallica Black album but in reverse.
Mr Rock toned Metallica down and Dan has given Stone Broken a new and much heavier feel. Some are more melodic, some are old school Stone Broken with amps turned up to 11 and some are just so far from what we have heard from the band previously.

The album opens with “Black Sunrise”, starting with a vocal echo chamber and this instantly has become the band’s heaviest sounding track to date. The guitars from Chris Davis and Rich Moss are brutal.
Next up is “The Devil you Know” and the catchy hook will drag you in. Keiron Conroy sounds as if the bass strings are hanging off the sound is so slappy. This song has the old SB chant along and this will be awesome on the upcoming tour. The song has lots of little gimmicks in the background that has been layered to make the sound huge. This is epic.

The title track starts like a Sunday, hungover trance anthem but you know it is going to grow into a monster. The riff is quirky, meaty and sporadic and has you with horns in the air.
Again the guitars are blistering and going back to the Monster bit… this track harks back to a band with another female drummer in Skillet and this should mean that on the other side of the pond this song will be huge. This is Stone Broken on a tangent. Is it them as they said trying anything? Who knows but this song on its own is outstanding.

Stone Broken are no strangers to a ballad so it is no surprise to find one on here and “Me Without You” is another winner. It opens with a R’n’B feel which will be down to the vocal tone but all those ballad lovers have another to add to the soppy playlist. Laughing aside this is a belter and for SB a new take on the old formula.
Time to get back to the heavy genre on “Without a reason”. This is the Stone Broken we all know and love. That up tempo song that makes you want to sing and go a little bit apeshit. This slips into more keyboards and more vocal gymnastics on “Over the Line”.

We have a semi ballad in “Stronger” and this could have been another album title in my mind as each and every track is a huge step up from previous CD “Ain’t Always Easy”. The keys lull you into a false sense of security, that is added too by the acoustic and then it goes full force and again Rich’s voice is sitting right out front and has so much more power than previously released. Everything is so much better, the vocals, the guitars, the drums, the production… holy crap… sign up Dan to a multi-album deal guys.

“This Revival” kicks in with the heavier feel before settling on that catchy shit the band do so well. Once again the bass is sounding so deep, brutal and loose.
Every instrument has been tweaked to perfection in the mix. At some points everything is thrown together in what should sound like a cacophony but as you listen you can pick out every individual part with total clarity.

Back to the trance intros on “So Damned Easy” but that is before your cranium is bashed in before moving into hypnotising vocal repetition from Rich. This again is new territory and it fits the well. Every track is solid, every track is an improvement and has the feel of a band coming of age and finding something that has lit a fire under their asses.
Then “Gimme Some More” comes at you as a southern rock stormer from the 25th Century. It has the hooks but they are cranked up beyond belief. It, like every other track is definitely Stone Broken but with an extra 10% and a handful of magical fairy dust with the name “huge hit” on the jar.

We have loved this band since the debut and as much as we loved their previous albums they never really managed to tie down the intensity of a live show but we now have an album that reflects what Stone Broken are all about… even if they changed their whole persona to do it.
Changes can be risky, they can make or break a band and my hat is doffed to the band they haven’t decided to tweak a couple of things… this sounds like they got in the studio and said… what does this button do?
This is the album Stone Broken needed to release and it is the album the fans wanted without even knowing it. It is a massive step up and an album that will crack the market wide open for them.
Highly Recommended

01 – Black Sunrise
02 – The Devil You Know
03 – Revelation
04 – Make It Out Alive
05 – Me Without You
06 – Without A Reason
07 – Over The Line
08 – Stronger
09 – This Revival
10 – So Damn Easy
11 – Gimme Some More
Bonus Track:
12 – Crawling (Linkin Park Cover)

Rich Moss – Vocals, Guitar
Chris Davis – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Kieron Conroy – Bass
Robyn Haycock – Vocals, Drums

BUY
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09N448CGT