In 2015, garage/blues rock newcomers RavenEye rocked the boat with their EP ‘Breaking Out’ and wasted no time in returning to completely blow the roof off with their debut full-length ‘Nova’. Straightforward, no nonsense, spirited rock packed full of bluesy, sludgy guitar and frontman Oli Brown’s signature classic sounding tone.
Opening is the six minute treat ‘Wanna Feel You’, in which Brown’s powerful elongated notes are the centrepiece alongside the well-paced drum work maintaining the vintage energy of the track til the end. With an opener as tight as this, you can’t help but have incredibly high expectations for the rest of the record. Next up, ‘Come Inside’ picks up the speed with a punkier pace while ‘Inside’ may cause the rock lover’s head to explode with singalong hooks and a pounding instrumental.
Lead single ‘Hero’ is powerful, not only in its instrumentation, but in memorable lyricism and a soft interval-esque middle section. ‘Walls’ is bouncy, choppy and full of suspense, while ‘Supernova’ is another fuzzed out and distorted number with a slight ballad-esque feel to the vocals. ‘Madeline’ is another one for the live book as it brings back the fast paced rock, complete with a chunky bassline and poetic lyrics.
‘Out In The Rain’ treats us to a classic heavy rock chorus while ‘Eternity’ takes a surprising tranquil acoustic touch to begin with before breaking into an impeccable crescendo and fitting closure for the album.
‘Nova’ is exhilarating, tightly produced and simply good fun. A plethora of singalong choruses, crowd pleasing riffs and altogether tight-knit musicianship means there’s something for everyone with this record. Teamed with their already growing reputation, there’s sure to be a sense of anticipation about where the trio will turn next.
4.5/5
‘Nova’ by RavenEye is out now on Frontiers Music Srl.
RavenEye links: Facebook|Twitter|Website
Words by Phoebe Messenger.
