Arise Within - The Season Of The Locust

Arise Within from Oakland are one of those bands that first listen reek of classic rock greatness. Songs like " When Life Has Begun" has all those qualities that classic rock of the 70's had, strong melodies, shredding solo's, powerful vocals and a solid building arrangement to pushes the song to dramatic heights. They have a obvious love for the Sabbath riff but there is also other bands like Nazareth that spring to mind when hearing this band but they also manage to keep a original vibe to the tracks. They are big fans of the big riff and there is many to get excited about on this album, "We Can Be Saved" is another one of these tracks, the solo in the track rips and shreds but its all held together by some real strong melodies. I would say that is the bands strong suit, solid riffing and memorable vocal arrangements. "The Wrath" has a "Black Label Society" buzz about it, even the guitar sound has a "Zakk Wylde" groove to it but the band is not ripping these artists, they are taking them somewhere else. One of the best tracks has to be "Reborn", complete with a sledgehammer riff and "Paul Hill's" powerful but effortless vocal approach. Paul Hill also handles the vocals and while there is nothing original about his technique, he has one of those voices that stick in your head days after listening to the tunes. The drumming and bass work is solid, not mind blowing but just right for carrying and driving the songs home. "One More Time" is another solid number, good old-school headbanging stuff that you don't hear too much of anymore. "Lost In A Daze" is more Ozzy/Sabbath worship with another grinding riff, fans of bands like Sheavy will love this. The sound on the album is top-notch, extremely well balanced with every instrumental at just the right levels." In My Heart " is another good example of there solid song-writing, with a cool old school rock swagger and a solid hook. The truth is there is no weak tracks on here, no filler just one solid album of 70's worshiping melodic riff rocking. The only negative thing i can come up with is that some of the tracks seems a little short and underdone, but that has a lot to do with the fact a good riff deserves to keep on going as long as possible. Some tracks seem to stop a little bit early for me but that is a minor thing overall. My conclusion is this one solid effort from a band that really should have some sort of mainstream success, after all they are better than most of the bands in the mainstream riding the 70's retro rock wave. You can check it out here - Amazon.com: The Season Of The Locust: Arise Within: MP3 Downloads but there is also free downloads of the album up for grabs but i encourage you to check the band's Myspace page,message them and show some support.This is pretty cool old school stuff. 9/10

Arise Within on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads