It’s been a long time since we heard of Sven Gali, the Canadian rock band whose debut went gold in Canada before they changed their sound to chase the Grunge revolution and lost their original fan base before calling it a day in 1996. They played a few shows since then and finally released a new single ‘Kill the Lies’ in 2018. Now here’s an EP to add to that which opens with that 2018 single and adds three ‘new’ tracks.
With a sound that owes as much to Shinedown as it does to Grunge there’s precious little of their debut album’s Skid Row-like sound here, more a mix of 90’s Alt Rock and Metal, and in truth its not bad but its not that inspiring either especially when you consider there’s actually nothing new here at all… what do we mean?
… well ‘Kill The Lies’ is already two years old. It does sound like Shinedown which is never a bad thing but it doesn’t get you up out of your chair like it should. And ‘You Won’t Break Me’ was released a year later in 2019 and whilst it keeps that thought it’s a bit Alice in Chains-lite. And there’s nothing new either about ‘Now’ as it’s already out too. It’s more Grunge of course but perhaps more interesting than the opening two numbers.
That makes it just the one new track – ‘Hurt’ which actually it appears happens to be the oldest track of all. It’s an oldie that missed the cut for their second record (you can hear them playing it over two decades ago on YouTube). Of all the tracks here this is the one that really stands out and almost makes the purchase a possibility. It interestingly sounds fresher and less calculated than the other tracks.
Nice to hear from these guys again but if you like spirited Hard Rock I’d suggest start with the debut. If Grunge is more your bag let’s hope for more like ‘Hurt’.
