One of my favorite bands of the 00’s – Endeverafter released one great album in 2007 on Razor & Tie – ‘Kiss or Kill’ after their first full length recording ‘Ashes of Sin’ had been shelved by Epic earlier that year (it’s still not been released but I always imagined it to be pretty much the same record) – both were preceded by the ‘Blood on the Stage’ EP from 2005.
Fast-forward a few years and on November 10th 2010 Endeverafter released a new single entitled ‘Barrel of a Gun’ it came a few months after their last ever show on the ShipRocked Cruise in September 2009. By then they were on the verge of splitting and in March 2012 Grant confirmed it was the case. By January the next year he was a member of L.A. Guns until his acrimonious departure in March 2018.
Prior to his departure from Guns in 2015 Michael Grant had released the ‘Anthemia I’ EP which delivered a mix of styles from Electronica, Pop and Rock, maybe a little too Pop to be reviewed here yet certainly an enjoyable bunch of songs that ran the gamut of styles. That EP came out under the name Michael Grant but I seem to recall that even then his backing band was ‘The Assassins’ (even if no band existed at the time).
So here we are in 2020 with Michael Grant & The Assassins – ‘Always The Villain’ a record that starts out where we began with the track ‘Barrel of a Gun’ – it’s a nice connection to the past and a great segue to the new, sounding just as good as just about anything on ‘Kiss or Kill’ – a high tempo rocker with a great riff and an infectious chorus.
You wonder about proof-readers when you read the title of the second track is ‘Always The Villian’ (sic) – it’s a song that builds nicely before dropping back to just rhythm section and voice before the screeching guitars underpin it. A bit of a slow burner really but with a nice combination of melody and defiance and a cool as hell solo to boot. So far so good.
I love the guitars that open ‘Killing Me Slowly’ and the slow crawl to the slow-motion explosion that follows; and ‘Nightmares’, the longest song here, takes that thought and drifts with it layering ideas and lyrics as it goes to drag you in and then slap you with a chorus that stings beautifully before you fall back into gentle keys and a building guitar – close your eyes it’s sublime! And all this action comes before the single and video ‘Red Light Run’ which probably needs no introduction but is a wonderfully bright and breezy feelgood rocker with a chorus that just lifts you up. It’s a Pop flavored rocker that sticks.
‘Anthem Of Us’ similarly soars – it’s modern melodic rock with real feeling – something I often find lacking in a lot of modern music, but in fairness Grant just has that indefinable ‘something’ that seems incapable of creating anything mediocre or unmemorable. After which we have ‘Break Me With U’ which is the only song that made it here from the ‘Anthemia I EP’ – it is heavier and bassier than the original but retains that ‘Alt’ feel as it crawls slowly and deliberately along before bursting into a memorable chorus. It’s brilliant stuff, just listen to that solo.
‘Death Of Me’ is just a great Rock song that has traces of Buckcherry about it and with a little metallic hit to drive it home, but man that chorus could be sung by anyone from any genre and hit home and the solo is so damn sweet. ‘Runaway (Can You Stand The Rain)’ that follows is a beautiful car crash of anthemic modern rock and Pop Punk and the result is wonderful to behold. ‘Gimme Salvation’ that follows is about the heaviest here and gloriously rocking!
That just leaves us with the relatively gentle closer ‘Secrets’ which if I’m honest is probably my least favourite here coming across a little formulaic which is something you’d struggle to level at anything else here, but if the worst here is a perfectly serviceable stab at a little modern radio rock then sign me up now!
This is great modern metallic anthemic Hard Rock that will please existing fans and I’m sure win over plenty more. I personally think that Grant is or could be given the chance, one of the great Rock artists this century. It may take a few more records to realise that potential but there’s something very uncommon about this wonderful music.
9/10
Tracklist: Barrel Of A Gun | Always The Villian | Killing Me Slowly | Nightmares | Red Light Run | Anthem Of Us | Break Me With U | Death Of Me | Runaway (Can You Stand The Rain) | Gimme Salvation | Secrets
Line-up: Michael Grant | Drums on tracks 1, 4, 7, 8 & 10 performed by: Shane Fitzgibbon
