Gone Savage are an original UK rock band formed from former members of Sweet Sin, Sam Thunder and Dare. Now you may well have heard of Dare and even Sweet Sin but I only heard of Sam Thunder through Lee Aaron! Based in and around Manchester the band purveys a classy take on Rock but with a refreshingly melodic modern feel. Over the last few years they have put out a number of singles – starting in 2019 with the release of ‘Bulletproof’; followed by ‘Louder Than the Sun’ in February 2020; before a post-pandemic release later that year of ‘Love Caught Me Out.’
Now it’s time for the full length that contains all three of those tracks as well as 9 other originals. To quote the bio: “The band has a long history with previous contributors including Vinny Burns ( Dare) James Marsh (Resurrection EP – lead and rhythm guitars and lead vocals) and Andy Halliwell (Sweet Sin) together with the original drummer James Ross (Also Ex Dare). Currently the band line up is Ian Salpekar and Will Glover with guests musicians brought in to cover live work. All writing and production is done in house by Will and Ian.”
After a brief intro track that is ‘Regression’ that has you thinking ‘Operation Mindcrime’ (for some strange reason) and which “captures musical/ audio sound clips from our past with tracks we have written set to a back story of despair and hope” comes ‘Icons of Today’ a song that has a little Dokken meets Queensryche vibe going on. It’s a great song but lacks a really killer chorus though managing to tick all of the other boxes along the way. ‘Irresistible’ adds a bit more bite but still rides those smooth melodic waters. There’s certainly a progressive element here, and one that eschews the huge chorus for the path less travelled, and whilst the solos are intact there’s a nice almost NWOBHM grit to many.
‘Life in Black and White’ is where things really come alive for me, great riff, great song and one that does have that extra kick. ‘Permanent State of Change’ mixes things up a bit with a harder riff rocker that has bits of everyone from Def Leppard to Dokken in there. It’s the only other song here that didn’t really grab me first listen, but be warned – it’s a grower! ‘Bulletproof’ that follows on the other hand gets right to the point and is the most metallic offering here and rather fine it is too!
The best though arguably is still to come: first ‘Life Incendiary’ builds slowly and has a wonderful languid opening, it’s a song with plenty of space and atmosphere (and again the Dokken comparisons come) it’s a great song. As is the mid-tempo groove of ‘Louder Than the Sun’ which really hits the spot again before single ‘Love Caught Me Out’ ups the pace and adds possibly the strongest refrain and solo to boot!
‘Redemption Song’ is moodier and another number with a little more space to breath and it again works rather well; ‘Powerless’ comes as another nice change of pace and sounds like a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Closer ‘Touch Your God’ is another that is more expansive and like ‘Redemption’ and ‘Life’ makes a nice trio of such songs that push the boundaries a little more.
Whilst the band name-check newer names like Starset, Ghost, Rammstein and Don Brocko as modern influences, I get little of that: to me this had the sonics of a mid-eighties hard-edged melodic gem, and whilst the Dokken influences are inescapable the band also lists Queensryche (which I also get) and Ratt, Night Ranger, Skid Row and Alice in Chains which I feel less of here in the actual songs.
Will and Ian should be rather proud of this one, it’s classy stuff!
TRACKLISTING:
- Regression
- Icon of Today
- Irresistible
- Life in Black and White
- Permanent State of Change
- Bulletproof
- Life Incendiary
- Louder Than the Sun
- Love Caught Me Out
- Redemption Song
- Powerless
- Touch your God
Social media links:
Website – www.gonesavageband.com
Facebook – Gone Savage – Official Facebook Page
YouTube – Gone Savage – YouTube Channel
Twitter – Gone Savage – Twitter account
Instagram – Gone Savage – Instagram account
Spotify – Gone Savage – Spotify