Swinging with THE DROPPER’S NECK

Like any good infection, the sound of THE DROPPER’S NECK is a relentless trespass of body and psyche. Its hooks and twists molest ears and imagination like the wall of hands working away on Catherine Deneuve in Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion”, whilst almost rabid creative shadows, lyrically and musically, entangle the listener in adventure and rewarding unpredictability. It is dark rock ‘n’ roll to savour and has been since day one of the UK band’s punk ‘n’ roll chaos.

Hailing from the county of Essex, the 2011 formed quintet, with a name taken from The Velvet Underground song ‘Heroin’, was already causing a stir in the underground with their raw and ravenous sound in a ferocious live presence when wider attention was nudged by their self-titled EP. The four track 2012 encounter revealed variety honed from everything springing between garage and alternative rock through to punk and psych temptation. In hindsight it was just the potent bed and first seeding for greater, dramatically imaginative triumphs to come, but with air ripping songs like ‘Sick’ and ‘Poor Excuse’, it left a certain imprint on fans and media ensuring The Dropper’s Neck was one to seriously watch.

Inspirations to the band’s sound are bred in the likes of bands such as The Stooges, The Cramps, The Misfits, Dead Kennedys, The Clash and The Velvet Underground, they mingling with more current creative antagonists such as Gallows, The Blood Brothers, Queens of the Stone Age, and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. It is the latter in that selection which most often gets held up as a clue to The Dropper’s Neck incitements, especially from the release of the band’s debut album “Second Coming”. The Paul Tipler (Placebo & Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster) produced 2013 proposal was a game changer for the band in so many ways. The five-piece rivetingly realised the early promise of their first offering but simultaneously were casting a whole new drama of new possibilities. Tracks were equipped with, in the words of The Ringmaster Review, “tyrannical and hypnotic rhythms”, “caustic noise and heavy shadows”, in “bruising bone shaking, mentally charring slices of creative ferocity.”

Songs like the addiction shaping ‘Darker Water’, serious crowd pleaser ‘Abrasive’, and the salacious temptation of ‘I Am The Law’ amongst so many, helped the release and band lure further comments; ”Menacing riffs filled with spiralling guitars and vocals that conjure up all sorts of dark feelings; leaves you screaming for more” claimed Big Cheese Magazine, ”Fantastically gloomy, with tales of wicked deeds & devilish groove ; It’s a hell of a lot of fun” shouted Classic Rock, whilst Louder Than War claimed “This is a solid, deep, dark rock album that beats the living snot out of most of what you will hear on modern rock radio.” There was no escaping a new diversity and broader exploration in the band’s sound within the album or the strong reactions and attention it reaped.

Always fuelled by a hungry appetite and intent to play live and ignite as many venues and new prospective hordes of fans as possible, the band continued to evolve fierce ideas and music, the indisputable evidence coming with the psychotic glory of ‘Line Me Up For The Firing Squad’ last year. The single was a hypnotically rabid buzz saw on the senses, fusing greater strains of noise and garage rock into the by now renowned Dropper’s Neck character. It was a new furnace of rock ‘n’ roll from the band waking up another fresh wave of attention and recognition; it also proved to be the teaser for a striking emprise of sound and invention which exploded with creative warfare on ears just a few weeks ago.

Current line-up of band originals, guitarists Chris Blake and George Barrows, and vocalist Lloyd Mathews alongside bassist Jack Turner and drummer Jamie Domo Abela unleashed their dirtiest, sludgiest, most aggressively provocative offering yet with the “Nineteen|Sixteen” EP. Featuring that previous single in its ranks, the almost pestilential fusion of psych and noise rock, punk and psychobilly, was a disorientating and concussive flight of sound and confrontation psychically echoing the EP’s theme of The Great War. The release took the listener with its lyrics and raw incitement through the initial ‘glamour’ of conflict, its fierce wake-up call, on to the stark aftermath which always follows conflict. “Nineteen|Sixteen” has proven to be the most challenging encounter with the band to date; songs like ‘200 Volts’, ‘Monster’ and ‘Stutter’, to just name three, aggressively uncompromising roars of invention. It has also been one of the most exciting making people stop, listen, and eagerly talk about The Dropper’s Neck.

In a year again loaded with breath-taking stage performances i across the UK and of course the uncaging of the “Nineteen|Sixteen” EP, 2015 is proving to be the time of The Dropper’s Neck, though you suspect 2016 is going to be one remarkable and major riot of chaos with the band too.

Enter the world of The Dropper’s Neck…

https://www.facebook.com/thedroppersneck    https://www.twitter.com/thedroppersneck    https://thedroppersneck.bandcamp.com/album/nineteen-sixteen

See the band’s full profile page at http://www.zykotika.com/

The Realm of FOREVER STILL

Raw power and instinctive seduction, fierce energy and atmospheric beauty, this entwined with many more striking assets is the sound of Danish band FOREVER STILL. It is a magnetic blend which has been luring increasing hordes of fans and rich attention since emerging with the band in 2010 and certainly since the stirring studio introduction to them through their debut release. Forever Still is a proposition which gets talked about with relentless and enthused frequency and if there was one name suggested as the most likely to ignite the music world ahead, Forever Still would be on the lips of a great many.

The Copenhagen hailing band is cored by the songwriting craft of its founders, vocalist Maja Schønning and multi-instrumentalist Mikkel Haastrup, and the stringed prowess of guitarist Dennis Post. It is a potent union breeding evocative and rousing tracks like the earth spawns bright blooms. As mentioned it was with the band’s first record, the critically acclaimed “Breaking Free” EP, that ears were sparked outside of their homeland, it’s quick grab of new broader blood following Forever Still’s attention grabbing performances at Denmark’s Nordic Noise Festival and being selected as one of the top 5 bands playing Germany’s M’era Luna Festival. The Flemming Rasmussen recorded “Breaking Free” provided an adventurous gateway into the gothic rock/melodic metal sound of the band through songs like the catchy yet dramatically emotive ‘The Key’, the mix of elegance and predation that is ‘The Last Day’, and the light and dark glory of ‘Towards The Edge’.

The EP was also the first revealing and revelling in the DIY attitude of the band. For it and all subsequent releases, the inventive hands of Mikkel undertook production, engineering, mixing and mastering, he as well as fine musician and songwriter a recording engineer trained by the legendary Flemming Rasmussen, whilst Maja is the creator of the band’s management, photography, and designs amongst many things. Art and videos are also an in house creativity, which alongside further evidence and tantalising examples of the band’s imaginative songwriting, blossomed a stunning second EP in 2014. Released as the year was about to turn into this, “Scars” was three tracks of sheer resourceful, imagination soaked drama, musically and lyrically. The first of a trilogy of EPs themed by a suppressed individual struggling through depression, anxiety, and worthlessness, fighting through all to get well while getting stronger in the process, the EP as its predecessor was received with open arms whilst triggering even more feverish reactions from fans and media alike.

Eventually to unite in a full-length concept album with the other pair of EPs, “Scars” through three songs compelling songs entwined in the siren-esque yet attitude rich vocals of Maja, showed new depths breached and exploration undertaken in songwriting and sound. From its snarling, unpredictable and anthemic but bewitchingly radiant title track, through the electronically mellower yet passionately fiery ‘Once Upon A Nightmare’ and the classical air of power ballad ‘Miss Madness’, the band’s second EP was a bed of powerful diversity and imagination, which in the words of PlanetMosh was “…one of the most exciting new releases in the last 12 months and if there is justice in the music world, 2015 has to be the year of Forever Still.”.

As its predecessor and the latest encounter from Forever Still, “Save Me”, the EP was made available on a pay-what-you-want basis at the band’s Bandcamp profile. Talking about why the band chose to release their music for free, Maja recently explained, “We believe that music should be available to everyone – both those who are broke, and those who have a little extra to spare in support of the artists they love,”, adding “We’ve put a lot of time and effort into these song, so if our fans want to give us some help for our hard work, we are very very grateful! But if they don’t have the money right now, they can take it, share it and, if they love it, come back and kick in later.”

The recently unveiled “Save Me” EP is another riveting step in the creative ascent and increasing worldly stature of Forever Still. Once more just three songs gripped ears and inflamed the imagination, but a trio of proposals starting with lead single ‘Awake the Fire’, which the word irresistible was surely invented for. The band has always found itself compared, for all the right reasons, to the likes of Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, but the opener alone, firmly backed by its companions, proved Forever Still has evolved into something wholly unique whilst holding on to and enriching the alluring essences which enticed from day one. Both the tempestuous croon of ‘Breathe In’, with its additional carnivorous and often furious intent, and the EP’s poetic aural lure of a title track, itself seeded in a fresh melodic but shadowed serenade fuelled by perpetual evocative fire, revealed Forever Still at yet another new plateau. Again it drew relentless praise from fans old and new as well as the likes of The RingMaster Review which announced that ”…Save Me, is the most potential and ability equipped proposition from the band to date and if this does not rupture the broadest spotlights with accompanying successes then something is seriously wrong out there.”

With “Save Me” and the video for ‘Awake The Fire’ still recruiting new ears and passions, Forever Still is now working on their debut album and continuing to light up venues and stages with a hunger and presence to match their exhilarating sounds. Many have claimed 2015 as the year of Forever Still but the next twelve months or so are looking like THE moment when the band steps to the frontline of melodic metal; when they move from the inspired to the inspirers.

Explore the world of Forever Still …

 http://foreverstill.dk/    https://twitter.com/foreverstilldk     https://www.facebook.com/Foreverstill

See the band’s full profile page at http://www.zykotika.com/

Here is Patriot Rebel

There has been a rhythmically rumbling and sonically grumbling roar on the UK rock scene for a few years now; a creative and impassioned bellow that has once again stirred up air and appetites with its latest single. That force is Patriot Rebel, a hard rock proposal equipped with the fiercest melodic seduction, thunderous riffery, and an anthemic invention which just will not take no for an answer.

The Nottingham band grew from the seeds of two friends since school, performing cover songs at open mic nights around their home city. It was 2007 when original songs began to blossom from the pair and the drawing of other musicians to the emerging project began, with Patriot Rebel the subsequent outcome. The following years saw varied members come and go until 2011 when the quintet of vocalist Paul Smith, lead guitarist Danny Marsh, rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist David Gadd, bassist Will Kirk, and drummer Aaron Grainger came together. This seemed to create a fresh and powerful spark within the Patriot Rebel character and sound, the essence which has helped make the band one of Britain‘s most exciting prospects on the heavy rock ‘n’ roll scene ever since.

The Patriot Rebel sound has equally and potently evolved over that time too. Inspirations at the beginning seem to stem from the likes of Black Stone Cherry, Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots, Alter Bridge, and Shinedown but as their releases and live fury nurtured and revealed, the band has bred a tenacious originality within their songs and imagination which just grows and infests their music with every passing year and encounter.

     Patriot Rebel had already been courting online radio attention and air play, alongside an already rampant and growing fan-base, by the time they self-released their debut EP, “Two Worlds” in 2013. It was a union of six breath-taking, anthem fuelled songs providing a magnetic introduction to the band whilst bruising the senses and exhausting the body with aggressive virulence and heavyweight power. It also ignited acclaim from public and media alike; Rock Sound magazine stating, “Patriot Rebel’s “Two Worlds” sounds absolutely humongous, the musical talents and potential of this band aren’t to be overlooked” and Loud Stuff declaring “This is a band that WILL be the next band that you hear about, quite simply phenomenal. 10/10.”

Graced by tracks like ‘What Goes Around’, it alone a brawl of hungry riffs and punchy rhythms inflamed by persistently magnetic melody honed vocals, the sonically and emotionally voracious ‘Come Of Age’, and the simply imposing anthem that is Holding On, the EP showed itself to be a predator successfully merging a kind of familiarity with fresh thought and craft. As the melancholic embrace of ‘Goodbye’ and the drama drenched furnace of ‘The Storm’ proved there was no absence of rich and gripping diversity to the Patriot Rebel songwriting and creative adventure either.

   Live the band has been equally as potent and successful, their reputation for delivering a truly explosive show earned as the band shared stages with the likes of Tesseract, Jettblack, Skarlett Riot, Cornerstone, Earthtone9, Spirytus, and Violet over the years, as well as undertaking their own successful tours and shows which has included selling out the legendary Rock City in Nottingham, and lighting up numerous festivals. The “Two Worlds EP” was gigged all over the UK upon its release, the band especially revelling in the opportunity a modified an old transit van gave them once converted into a makeshift tour bus, though as they admit, “sleeping in it wasn’t the best experience. It was very snug and it’s difficult to look each other in the eye after you’ve been ‘spooning’ the night before.”

August 2015, Patriot Rebel released their new single ‘Propaganda’, a thank you to their fans and bridge between the striking “Two Worlds” EP, from where the song springs, and the new material the band is currently working on. As with the rest of the EP, the raw and rousing slab of rock ‘n’ roll was recorded with producer Matt Elliss (Black Spiders, Terrorvision, Skarlett Riot), and reminded the country just how resourcefully arousing the band is and of the potential running through their veins waiting to be unleashed ahead. Talking about its recording with Ellis, the band enthused of the time in the studio, “Matt is brilliant at what he does. He doesn’t just record what we play; he actually makes suggestions and has ideas of how certain things could be done differently, “ adding “He literally does it exactly how we imagine it should sound.”

Accompanied by a striking video made by band friend Chris Clough, a film also featuring the model Katie Wainwright, ‘Propaganda’ is a raw and dynamic assault lyrically themed around people who always try to belittle others and shit stir just to cause trouble. As mentioned it is an incitement and teaser for band and their upcoming offerings with Patriot Rebel having been holed up with Matt Ellis again this past July to work on and record their next EP potentially released early 2016.

As ever tearing up venues around new creations, the band exploding into the live arena again as support to Jett Black on the 29th August as part of Degeneration fest, Patriot Rebel are beginning to build a new force of creative and impassioned pressure to breach the strongest and broadest spotlights. Fair to say anticipation for their new songs is already brewing hunger and impatience as ‘Propaganda’, announced by The Ringmaster Review as “one single for new and old fans to spend a riotous summer with”, stirs rebellion up once again Patriot Rebel style for the end of the year.

Check Patriot Rebel out at

Facebook   Twitter

See the band’s full profile page at http://www.zykotika.com/

Introducing Able Archer

 

     In many ways the music of Irish alternative rock band Able Archer is a storm; a creative tempest of imagination, passion, and voracious enterprise which simply lures ears and imagination into its dramatic clutches. It is a rousing proposal which is equally bred on intricate and adventurous craft just as enthralling and powerful as its energy. The Dublin quintet has almost everything any rock band could want in its armoury of invention and ingenuity, the proof coming in an array of songs and releases which have not only set the band apart from the crowd but ensured each individual track comes with its own unique character and invigorating emprise of creativity.

   All this has been evident since day one of the band and certainly from their first release and introduction to the wider world, the “Bullets” EP. Formed in 2011, Able Archer was soon stirring up an eager and ever growing following around their home city and surrounding landscapes with a sound which was aggressive and ravenous, intimate and anthemically welcoming. It was the “Bullets” EP though which opened ears and attention across the wider stretches of the UK and into Europe; songs like the mesmeric and instantly refreshing ‘Superhuman’ and the insatiably contagious ‘Patches’ setting lofty plateaus for not only the release but the band itself within the underground rock scene. Backed by the open variety fuelling the magnetic passion soaked and eighties spiced ‘The Great Henry Watt’ as well as the discord tainted invention of the EP’s emotive title track, “Bullets” left no doubt that a real talent was emerging

Similarly live Able Archer quickly built and earned a strong reputation, the band grabbing the opportunity to tour across Ireland and the UK on the back of their EP whilst constantly looking to evolve and push their music forward. Stretch their sound and explore new creative climates the band certainly did with their next single, the emotionally incendiary ‘Ghostmaker’. Driven by the pumping rhythms of drummer Seán O’Connor, the track instantly exploded with fresh drama loaded with voracity within a blaze of roaring energy and virulently infectious enticement. Fair to say the encounter powerfully unveiled new depths to the band’s creativity, as it wove the sonic and melodic tenacity of guitarist Rob McDonnell and keyboardist Neil Buckley, and the growling prowess of bassist Diarmuid Breathnach, into one fiery and aggressively alluring temptation. The song immediately had fans and media throwing acclaim its and the band’s way; The RingMaster Review declaring “Ghostmaker leaves you exhausted and basking in another irrepressible slice of Able Archer excellence” and Sunset Radio offering the thought that “This is a band of importance, a band that has the potential to put Ireland straight back to its front centre days enjoyed when Thin Lizzy ruled the world.”

   A tempter for “The Trouble with Strangers” EP from which it came, the track proved to be just one rich spice in a new imposingly thrilling Able Archer offering. Emotionally aflame through the ever gripping and expressive voice of Emmet McCaughey, “The Trouble with Strangers” proved to be the most eclectic and stirring proposition from the band yet upon its release in the November of 2014, and indeed against most things out that year. Recorded with Shane Cullen at K9 studios, the EP was a tempest of invention. From the increasingly rousing incitement of “Ghostmaker” and the fascinating and bewitching drama of “The Warden” to the vocally and melodically majestic evocation of “The Descent”, as well as the captivating elegance and emotive persuasion of “Only Love”, the EP announced that Able Archer had simply grown in every aspect; maturity, imagination, and pure craft especially.

The EP has provided a trio of potent treats and temptations in the shape of singles from its body at varying times in Ireland and the UK during 2015, with ‘The Warden’ having its British unveiling this August backed by a series of shows in a live presence which you can be sure is never relenting in energy, hunger, and thrills.

Able Archer is a band which you feel must push its boundaries; its members singularly and in union perpetually wanting to throw themselves into deeper depths of invention and daringly bolder explorations with every song they breed. The proof is all there in their releases so far though it is easy to suggest that they have only been laying the seeds to an inevitable heyday within British rock ‘n’ roll sometime soon.

                               Check out Able Archer at their social media adventures

Official website  Facebook Twitter YouTube

See the band’s full profile page at http://www.zykotika.com/