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Remember that advert from the ‘80s for Maxell where some dude is sitting in an armchair in front of a stereo and his butler comes in and slaps a tape into the player and presses play, and then the music starts up and the dude in the chair literally gets blown away by the music, remember? Well, that’s what happens when ‘Venous’, the new EP from SKAM, starts up, and opening track ‘Circles’ kicks in. Blown. Away. Once you pick yourself up from the floor and straighten yourself up, then what follows on is pretty damn special indeed, and potentially the strongest output to date from the Leicestershire trio.
Part of the blame for blowing listeners away from the off lies at the feet of riff-meister Steve Hill; goddam his trademark Gibson SG sounds bloody massive, and thanks to the stellar production it is crystal clear. ‘Venous’ is chockful of top-quality riffage, and at times anyone unfamiliar with the band would be gobsmacked to discover that it’s just the one guitarist making that wall of noise. The other guys are no slouches either, bassist Matt Gilmore and Steve’s sibling Neal on the drums make quite a formidable engine room team, and once the dust settles from ‘Circles’, the overriding sensation is one of…this is good shit. ‘Fade Out’ follows on and is all about the drumming from the man known as “The Hammer”, and with Neal Hill, style and precision are never sacrificed for power and he is always in control, at no point does he overplay. A bit of a Toby Jepson vibe on this one, and fans of Little Angels/Wayward Sons will lap it up. ‘I’m Not The Only One’ mixes it up with a few changes in tempo and direction throughout, and the listener doesn’t really know what to expect at each turn, IE. the majestical drum fills from Hill that lands on 01:15 minutes come out of nowhere and adds an extra dimension to the track, as do the badass basslines from Gilmore throughout the breakdown mid-song.
Steve Hill’s vocals have grown in richness and the power ballad (of sorts) ‘Deadliest Sin’ especially highlights the growth in his vocal range. The soft drum intro from Neal Hill is beautifully subtle and has a one-take feel to it that helps create an Alice In Chains-like opening few minutes, this gives way to a soaring, uplifting change in pace where Steve Hill delivers one of his strongest vocal performances of all-time. Ending the way that it started, ‘Deadliest Sin’ is perhaps the stand-out track on the EP and if there is an all-acoustic version of the track lying around in the SKAM vaults, then I’d buy that for a dollar. ‘I Didn’t Know’ has a classic AC/DC feel to it in places; the thick rhythm guitar, the throbbing basslines – all classic ‘DC, but the track doesn’t sound like an AC/DC influenced track in the same way that an Airbourne one does, it’s less in-your-face and way more subtle. Closing track ‘The Cure’ is a deeply personal one as it deals with the tragic death of Steve and Neal’s mother, and how much cancer sadly affects so many of us. Neal writes, “We, like many, suffered at the hands of this terrible illness, but we found solace in knowing we are not on our own. With millions of people across the globe going through a similar tough time, we wanted to write a song of hope and sympathy for anyone affected by cancer. Turn it up loud and think of those you love.” And to be honest, that sums the track up perfectly, and if even if only one person takes a little bit of comfort from the track, then it has done its job.
Coming as the second instalment of a 2-part project, ‘Venous’ works exceedingly well as a companion piece to the previously released ‘Intra’ (think about it for a second…) but it also stands on its own two feet in quite some fashion. As touched on earlier, have SKAM delivered their strongest output to date with ‘Venous’? Find out for yourself on October 1st, more information available here.
PS.
If Daniel Ek has so much money that he considered buying Arsenal, then maybe, just maybe, buy/download ‘Venous’ direct from the band themselves and keep those big SKAM wheels turning. Just a thought…
Review – Dave
