RUN ZEUS RUN – G.O.A.T.
What about music that makes you fly? And what kind of musical gear do you need to create the sound that perfectly captures the feeling of being inside a big-budget action movie where superheroes light themselves on fire and then crash out of the sky?
Everyone’s looking for those, whether they know those still exist or not. Do we need to blame the near absence of those songs on modern technology, or on songwriters not possessing those kinds of skills anymore? The over-the-top alternative-metal sounds of RUN ZEUS RUN should make us hopeful.
And not just hopeful, but willing to hold modern rockstars to a standard. Is it rough to play the same old guitar riffs, or sing lines about cars and girls? Not if the sound is not gigantic? Is it enough to just use modern production tricks? Not if they’re not used to creating a grandiose sound.
RUN ZEUS RUN’s “G.O.A.T.” is loud, obvious, over-produced and quite great. This is the music meant for an action thriller or for the trailer of an AAA sports video game. It’s exciting, fun stuff. It’s a sound that you don’t have to work too hard to either enjoy or understand. This is the thing that most rock bands should be. And as thrilling as it is, this makes you have to wonder just what RUN ZEUS RUN is able to do in the long run.
Witchfang – Running Away From You
The internet’s given us some wonderful things. And while you’ll find a lot of naysayers, I think that you should add modern music to that list, and the environment in which to develop.
The web hides as much as it shows. Bands and artists are now able to create great sounds first, and worry about stage outfits and cool moves later. It’s how great hybrid bands like Witchfang are able to develop. The web is a great shooting range from which eagle-eyed sharpshooters always emerge.
Bands that had to first build their reputation, exclusively, through playing live had to explain themselves to audiences. They had to do it quickly as well. On the other hand, groups with lofty concepts and grand themes are best served by internet platforms when first getting started.
Witchfang is occult heavy metal music played with the gentle touch of 1960s soft rock and with grooves that could be made to fit a 70s-styled pop-disco song. With its beautiful melodies contrasting against the anger of the lyrics, “Running Away From You” is reminiscent of Blue Öyster Cult or, if you need a more modern example, Ghost. What Witchfang and bands like this do best is defy your expectations of what a hard rock band ought to be. If this is, indeed, evil bubblegum music, it’s sure got a nice flavour to it.
