The Vulcan Itch – Rise Of The Fallen
Release Date: 28th March 2024
Label: The Lab Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Heavy Rock, Noise Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Grunge.
FFO: Helmet, Mars Red Sky, Alice In Chains.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Quite appropriately for a band with a name that sounds like a sympton Mr Spock might be suffering from after an ill-advised night in an alien bordello, this Greek trio have produced an infectious album of full of groovy riffs that elegantly swings between alt and noise rock.
Short and straight to the point is the name of the game here, with the majority of the ten tracks hovering around the three-minute mark. Lasting just over two minutes, opener Wasted kicks into gear with an urgent repeating riff and initially is one of the more straight down the line hard rockers, before some more jaggy guitars interject towards the conclusion.
Perfect Life is the perfect juxtaposition between aggression and sweetness, imagine a band of clean-cut, high school kids in V-neck sweaters playing in front of a mosh pit of crew cut, jacked-up jocks in Doc Marten boots.
The teen angtsy vibe increases with the reassurance-seeking Is It Happening. Addicted To The Dark sounds like the best of early Royal Blood, whilst Liars and Betrayers sounds like the fiercest of Billy Talent.
In all honesty, there is a bit of dip after the halfway mark, with a couple of the tracks straying dangerously close to cliff edge of mediocrity, but the band manage to steer things back to safety with closer Drowing, the longest song on the album, and the one that gives them a bit of breathing space to craft some open soundscapes and hammer blows of gigantic helmet-esque riffs.
Short and straight to the point. Good band. Good album.
(3.5 / 5)
