Saint Rebel - the
name is a paradox. But there are five Danish men who
don't care about it and name their band like this.
And, to be honest, no saint has ever had a clean
slate and every rebel has his/her good side. That's
what the guys want to show with their music.
Now, with their second (self-titled) album, Saint
Rebel are trying to live up to the success they had
with their debut album "The Battle of Sinners and
Saints". And to do so, they are keeping up with the
style of the first album and don't risk that much
new.
The songs are easy structured and short, only one
song hits the five minutes mark. The melodies are
solid, songs like "Could Our Kills Endure" or
"Leave a Scar" have quite catchy guitar riffs and
the solo on "One and the Same" is really beautiful.
I can hear influences from big hard rock and grunge
bands, like Alice in Chains, Pretty Maids, Pearl
Jam, sometimes even Nirvana.
The only thing disturbing me is the solo (or
whatever) of "My Patient", which sounds like a woman
being maltreated or something. I don't really get
it.
"Now You Know" is my absolute favourite song on the
album. I totally agree that this song was a number
one hit on Danish iTunes charts. It's a wonderful
ballad with a piano intro and a melody that sticks
in your head. And girls, if a guy screams "I really
love you" that passionate and desperate at you, you
can be sure that he means it.
"Desperate Meassures" is the second gem. Singer
Jonas Kaas' voice is softer than on the other song
and there is a rap (!) part, which was really
unexpected.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album didn't really
get me. It's not the problem of the band as a whole,
I just can't really listen to the singer in 70% of
the songs. Kaas sounds like a mixture of a high
pitched Lemmy Kilmister and a half dead Kurt Cobain.
With the problem, that Lemmy on helium and a half
dead Kurt would sound better than Kaas. Beside this
fact, I think Kaas tries too, hard which gives him a
hoarse voice. If Saint Rebel's music gets more
heavy, he would reach his limit and he will destroy
his voice sooner or later.
Nevertheless, I think Saint Rebel are on the right
track. They have found their style, and if you have
become interested, check them out. Maybe they
haven't established the hard rock genre anew, but it
is a solid album, and you're not wasting your time
listening to it.
Saint Rebel - Now You Know
