Since launching their debut album Murder & The Motive, local boys done good Those Damn Crows have gone from strength to strength, winning over audiences and critics alike with their consistently great live performances and talented song writing, so it’s no surprise that their latest opus Inhale/Exhale is yet another 10 tracks of blistering rock goodness.
Vocalist Shane Greenhall has a voice from the gods that just glides effortlessly over the riffs and grooves laid down by guitarists Ian Thomas and David Winchurch.
Fill The Void opens the album with high energy and the follow up, Takedown, brings the noise with a staccato riff before the soaring vocals of the chorus.
Fans of the band or those on the ball may have already heard the previously released Man on Fire and Wake Up (Sleepwalker), both excellent rock tunes that are going to make it hard for the band to choose which songs to take off the setlist to fit these new tracks on.
Finally it’s time for Greenhall to get the piano out for This Time I’m Ready, not a ballad per se, but a slightly slower tempo tune that’s all positive vibes and looking ahead rather than behind. I Am is more of a groove, with the band holding back a little on the tempo, but still just focused on the positive themes of the album, such as tech companies trying to manipulate and control and having emotional attachments to human experiences.
Latest single See You Again has been dedicated to the fans and oozes arena rock, while Lay It All On Me doesn’t quite hit the mark and feels more like a filler track, but is still just as good as most other bands A tracks.
Something about Find A Way is bizarrely reminiscent of Disturbed somehow (without the kooky noises obviously) and album closer Waiting For Me is a departure from the Crows’ usual formula, all low key almost spoken vocals and some Nine Inch Nails type beats. Although this isn’t the style that has propelled the band into the public’s hearts, they do seem to pull it off and it’s always good when a band pushes itself to try something new instead of regurgitating the same old thing.
Inhale/Exhale is a cracking album by some homegrown talent that are carving their way into UK rock with ease. 3 albums into their career, Those Damn Crows seem pretty unstoppable on their path to greatness.
Inhale/Exhale is available now via Earache Records.
