Named after Audrey Horne from David Lynchs “Twin Peaks”, the Norwegian Rock band was founded two years ago by skilled musicians in Bergen. With their debut No Hay Banda they already picked up the Norwegian Grammy as best Metal Act. After some line-up changes and with a new label, the band finally presents their second album Le Fol.
Audrey Horne are:
Torkjell "Toschie" Rød (vocals) - Sylvia Wane
Thomas Tofthagen (guitar) - Sahg
Arve “Ice Dale” Isdal (guitar) – Enslaved, I, Bourbon Flame, Trinacria, Malignant Eternal
Kjetil Greve (drums) – Deride
Already the opening track Last Chance For A Serenade raised the bar for this album. Last Chance For A Serenade comes along with quiet brutal Hard Rock and is able to create an energy which lasts until the end of the song. The dubbings of Toschie´s voice are irritating for a short while, but overall they suit well and are used as an effect on most of the songs on this album. This song definitely quickens an appetite for more. WithJaws the unusual quartet created a real catchy song. Jaws got everything you want to hear. A nice melody, impassionate but still aggressive driving guitars, as well as Toschie, who gives everything vocally. That’s it. Anyone reminded of Tool won’t be alone with this opinion, as the parallels are not ignorable – if it was a Tool song, they could be proud of it.
Sinister, a little snotty but atmospheric is Last Call. Somehow you cannot deny the feeling that you have heard this one before somewhere. Faith No More were surely Godfathers for this song. Although Last Call, just like Jaws, is a bit of a replica, it’s still a really good song which honours the inspiration.
Threshold rocks till you drop! Threshold is catchy and has all the ingredients of a hit. Monster is a slow beautiful rock ballad, which has to cope with the label „mainstream”. It’s a little too American style and a little too spick and span although it’s usually this kind of songs that could give a band the required push, and this combo would deserve it.
Just as Last Call, also In The End has Audrey Horne sound pretty much like Faith No More, but with this song they cannot entirely hold on to the created atmosphere all the way until the end. May the Grunge never die, is the motto of Pretty Girls Make Graves. The nice guitar lead melody together with the singing is really easily remembered and got that special something. With Bright Lights you should not judge the book by its cover. This beautiful track is dark as the night and entagles the listener completely.
Afterglow comes along with brute riffs as aggressive Hard Rock. Hell Hath No Fury, Wish You Hell and So Long Euphoria I missed unfortunately, but if those songs are fitting into the album style, Audrey Horne have a great new release with Le Fol. Despite not being able to review all songs, I can recommend this album, it´s really worth buying. Audrey Horne´s modern sound could seem, especially Monster, too spruced up and mainstream for some, but songs like Last Chance For A Serenade, Jaws, Threshold and Last Call have the Rock-heart definitely beat in the same rhythm, and with Pretty Girls Make Graves and especially Bright Light the beat will become a little heavier.
In order to get more impressions of the album, you can listen to "Jaws", "Last Call", "Threshold" and "Monster" on the band´s MySpace page, which also shortens the waiting time until the release outside of Norway (Indigo Recordings wasn’t fixing a date yet).
Samira Alinto
Read comments: 2
Write comments |
