In April of 2018 guitarist Mark Anderson and vocalist Mike Meadows began writing for a new album. Leaving behind all past influences and concentrating on creating something unique yet true to the Ditchwater sound. 10 new blistering tracks (including a faithful yet modern take on the Motörhead classic “Iron Fist”) mixing heavy grooves blending emotional melodies with dramatic harmonic passages.
That’s the spiel we get from Chicago rock act Ditchwater with their latest release “Never Say Never”, a hard and heavy affair that blends melodic rock and metal together for a ballsy heavy record.
“Never Say Never” is a slick sounding record, bass heavy with a lot of emphasis on the low ends, has a bit of Alter Bridge kind of vibe about it. Discovering bands for the first time always initiate comparisons to work you are familiar with and while the more metal side may say John Bush era-Anthrax, there’s a very strong focus on the melodic rock side of things here that’s modern but retaining the roots of heavy based hard rock.
Kicking off with one of the strongest tracks on the album, “Enemy Of The People” is a groove based rocker with lots of hooky riffs and soaring melodic choruses that is sure to be a winner at live shows. The 1-2 punch of “My Last Breath” injected with double kicks driving this heavy number follows right after before stepping off the gas in the melodic rocker “Against My Better Emotional Reasons“. It’s a slower paced effort compared to the opening tracks but it still has a heavy side to balance things out.
Moving on the energetic “The End” where things start to get a bit more frenetic, the more metal side of the band starts to shine through where it appears to crack the seams in a way that warrants even more of that element. That aspect does come through furthermore in “The Way Your Are” and the speedy “How Many Times” further down the tracklist where hardcore leanings bring a ferocity in the band that is much welcomed for those wanting a bit more headbanging stuff.
But it’s that melodic side of the band that ultimately wins here with tracks like “The Pain” and “All About You” and the softer touches of the closer “Hands Held Out“. Of course a bit of Motorhead gets thrown in as a bonus with their rendition of “Iron Fist” to show where some of their influences have come from. But really, who hasn’t been influnced by Motorhead in some way? The classics never die and Ditchwater do their best to bring it into modern times with their brand of heavy rock.
7/10
TRACKLIST
Enemy Of The People
My Last Breath
Against My Better Emotional Reasons
The End
The Pain
The Way Your Are
All About You
How Many Times
Hands Held Out
Iron Fist
