Hard rock band Sandveiss are the answer to the seminal question: “Nobody rocks like Led Zep or Sabbath today.” Hell yeah there is. Montreal rockers take their references in the 70s as we hear Jimmy Page inspired riffs along with some Stone Temple Pilots force of impact. You can actually hear both styles on the first track, Blindsided, a six-and-a-half-minute rocker that opens up their first album “Scream Queen” in style. Sandveiss’ rock is rich in its structure, with many subtle changes along the way. Different patterns in their songs keep it interesting to listen to. Sandveiss is a musically richer band than your average hard-rock combo. Scar starts with dual guitar licks while guest singer François Couture brings another vocal tone to Luc Bourgeois’s. These guys know how to rock. It’s not only about sounding “heavy”. Bourgeois, Shawn Rice (on guitar), Daniel Girard (bass) and Dzemal Trtak (drums) create great song structure and make every instrument count. The album (fire) starter Blindsided has a few different structures in it, but the switch from one another feels natural. No ‘cut’ that the listener can notice, it just flows into one great strong song. <a href="http://sandveiss.bandcamp.com/album/scream-queen-2">Scream Queen by SANDVEISS</a> Guitars sound great! In the heavy music style, it is easy to sound cliché, and sound like previous bands, but Sandveiss use powerful tools to make their rock unique but still close to the roots. Singer Luc Bourgeois sounds like he fronted Nazareth or Boston at times, with his strong and clear voice, while his bandmates join in on chorus which brings a lot of depth (Do You Really Know). On songs like Untie Me, both guitars exchange parts in a rich dialogue while drummer Trtak keeps a funky beat on a 5/4 structure. Sandveiss is not about flexing muscles. It’s simply strong in a powerful way, keeping the spectacular form of cheesy rock out if the equation. Dead Man Stare has something of both Led Zeppelin and Metallica with a spice of Grim Skunk, thanks to the addition of the organ to the mix. I remember their performance at one of the Gamiq galas a few years ago, and even though the majority of the crowd were indie rock and folk or art rock musicians, everybody in the house enjoyed their hard rock performance as it was tightly executed, full of energy and very easy to enjoy, even for those – like me at the time – who had never heard of them. The listener will come out of “Scream Queen” exhausted as these four guys from Quebec City never lift their feet from the gas pedal and stream their way through with a lot of energy. Bottomless Lies is the only moment where the beat is noticeably slower but the intensity level stays high. Sandveiss are the real thing. They deserve to become the biggest hard rock band on the planet. SANDVEISS Scream Queen (Sexy Sloth Records, 2013) -Genre: hard stoner rock -In the same spirit than Gros Mené, Nazareth, Grim Skunk (without the ska/punk element) Buy the album on the band’s BandCamp page Follow the band via their Facebook page Listen to videos on the band’s YouTube channel Réagissez à cet article / Comment this article commentaires / comments
