Album Details

• Artist: There Be Lions
• EP:
There Be Lions
• Label: Self-Issued
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: charlesmartel on 2012-07-14

Now at this point I could just list all the bands that There Be Lions regard as heroes, but that would be dull. Besides, you only have to listen to their self-titled EP to figure it out for yourself. What is impressive is that There Be Lions have made a music which, like their heroes of old (I am talking the early seventies here) has an appeal which is Transatlantic if not truly global. There is nothing here which would make you say, "ah, yes, these guys must be American". Like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, to name just a few, this is rock music for everyone.

Strating with a driving riff, "To the Bone" starts as There Be Lions mean to go on. A solid rhythm section, some power drumming, killer riffs, vocal harmonies and definable, memorable melodies, this is how rock music should be. And there is no let up. Grinding guitars contrast with vocal harmonies on "Drugs and Dreams" which is as thick and miasmic and you would expect a song to be with a title like that. There Be Lions are not going to offer you a new take on music. That is not their purpose. They exist to play you solid rock music not to tell you about wizards and gnomes, the lack of social justice in the world today or the musings of ambient-electronic whatever. Leave all that to the prog rockers, the post-punks and the hipsters.

Some people say there is no longer a place for good old heavy rock (as it used to be called) these days. Those people deride the music as anachronistic, something your Dad (or even your Grandad) used to listen to. Don't listen to them. Their heroes are probably Black Sabbath (though they wouldn't admit it). Whether you live in a mansion in the Hamptons, an apartment in Manly Bay, a two-up-two-down in Clitheroe, or a favela in Rio, if your heroes are the real rockers, then this is rock music for you. Lock your bedroom door, start headbanging and playing air guitar along to the music. You know you want to.

User Reviews and Comments