For Swedish bands, there
\nis<\/i> life after Abba. Drain S.T.H. is proof.<\/p>\n
This four-piece female quartet from Stockholm take on the
\nstandard image of hard rock and challenge it to conform to their
\nsound and style. The end result,
\nHorror Wrestling<\/i>, could be one of the most exciting releases
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
The band (vocalist Maria Sj\u00f6h\u00f6lm, guitarist Flavia
\nCanel, bassist Anna Kjellberg and drummer Martina Ax\u00e9n)
\nhardly sounds like an all-female band, something that works to
\nDrain S.T.H.’s benefit. Any prejudices some people might have to
\nsuch a lineup disappear with the opening notes of “Crack The Liar’s
\nSmile” (acoustic guitar leading into a sonic attack). Canel’s
\nguitar style is incredibly solid, and though she chooses to make
\nher solos an intregal part of the songs, I found myself wishing she
\nwould cut loose at some point.<\/p>\n
The treasure on
\nHorror Wrestling<\/i> is “Serve The Shame,” a song that
\ndemonstrates the magnificent vocal harmonies this band has. The
\nsong is instantly addictive, crossing several musical genre
\nboundaries to reach as many listeners as possible. The acoustic
\nversion tacked onto the end of the album is just as good, powered
\nagain by the vocal harmonies. Other songs like “Someone,”
\n“Crucified” and “Mind Over Body” continue the strong case for Drain
\nS.T.H.<\/p>\n
Drain S.T.H. even dares to challenge the listener by introducing
\ndifferent rhythm patterns that will catch you off-guard if you’re
\nnot careful. It takes a little time to get into cuts like “Smile”
\nthat utilize these, but it’s well worth the effort.<\/p>\n
The second side of
\nHorror Wrestling<\/i> takes a little more effort to get through,
\nbut is a journey worth taking nonetheless. In fact, the only
\nmistake the band makes at all is their stuck-in-first-gear cover of
\nMotorhead’s “Ace Of Spades”. Sorry, ladies, but this is a song that
\nwas meant to blaze through with no musical brakes. It’s an
\nadmirable effort, but pales in comparison to the real thing.<\/p>\n
Although the singing is very clear on
\nHorror Wrestling<\/i>, there are times when I wish that
\nSj\u00f6h\u00f6lm’s vocals had been brought a little more to the
\nfront of the mix. Her voice is clear and powerful, and I wish I had
\nbeen able to hang onto every word she sang.<\/p>\n
\nHorror Wrestling<\/i> is a powerful first effort from a band
\nwhose word-of-mouth following in this country has spread thanks to
\nnumerous tours (including a stint on the OZZfest last year). If
\nHorror Wrestling<\/i> is any indication of this band’s true
\npower, then they could find themselves as superstars in America in
\nno time flat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7446],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-39088","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-drain-s-t-h","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39088"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}