Dead City Ruins
s/t

”Australia’s most ass kicking rockers…” that is how the press sheet that accompanied this album opened. Does that mean that they are kicking people’s asses making themselves guilty of physically abusing people or is it their music that is kicking ass? That is what we are to determine, the cover has some classic symbolism with the eagle and the snake, quite typical rock colour as well. It kind of looks like something modern that tries to emulate music of the past, or at least draw heaps of inspiration from the past. Dead City Ruins is the self titled title of this album which happens to be the band’s second album.

It is a hard rock album of the classical style, it draws inspiration from the metal of the seventies and eighties. It should be quite clear to anyone what bands these guys draw their inspiration from. It is working class rock music complete with blue jeans and everything. Mainly it is fairly predictable music, you will recognise it and it will be fairly simple to take in due to the familiarity of it. Still, it is a decently varied album that stays mainly within the frame although I think the second track feels a bit out of place on the album. The production is okay, it is modern and accentuates the music inspired by the past.

It is a fairly good album, the songs work okay and they have a fair deal of energy. Problem is that it is also a predictable album and it feels as though it offers nothing new, nothing that is really exciting. Too good to be dismissed and too poor to be hailed as something near a masterpiece. A middle of the scale album, as middle of the scale as they come in fact. I can recommend it for the fans of this kind of nostalgia rock music.

Well, I think the second track is the best, it is a bit more doom metal than the rest of the album. The thing is though that this track also feels a bit out of place on the album so it is a bit of a double edged sword this track. Enjoyable but alone you could and then the record is just a tad too much working class for my taste but it is a good album for driving and what else can you ask for? Probably a lot but you don’t always get what you want but with this album just might just get what you need.

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