Airless – Changes

Airless are a four-piece hard rock band hailing from Spain, who formed in January 2002 and had their self-titled debut album out a mere six months later. They signed to Lion Music in 2005 and released second album 2nd Round that year and third effort Fight in 2008, even finding time to tour with the likes of Riot and Reckeless Love. And 2013 sees the return of the band with Changes, their fourth studio record.

The album is a big melting pot of many influences – at points you can hear the soft-rock strains of Journey, at others the harder sound of either Bon Jovi or Whitesnake. Whatever you can hear though, it definitely gives the album a unique edge that, whilst sticking to a well-trodden radio rock formula, never gets boring at all. And Iñaki Lazkano boasts a very impressive set of pipes, shown off in full on Upstream, his soaring vocals  (and excellent command of the English language) catching you hook, line and sinker. Robert Rodrigo also showcases a huge talent for the guitar as well, tracks like opener I Don’t Care and Till  The End of Time packed with shred-tastic solos. The band even go political on Gone Too Far, the track preceded by news broadcasts about genocide and mass murder that is substantially heavier than any of the other songs.

Will the album light up the world? Sadly, the answer is probably not. But it’s a lot of fun and shines the spotlight on a band who are just enjoying playing and making music. And that’s the most important thing. 7.5/10

Band Lineup:

Iñaki Lazkano – vocals
Robert Rodrigo – guitars
Miguel Manjon – bass
Pako Martinez – drums

Track Listing:

1) Start Again
2) I Don’t Care
3) Upstream
4) Dead Inside
5) Changes
6) Till the End of Time
7) Rescue Me
8) Gone Too Far
9) Reach For You
10) Gone Back Home
11) Latest Prophecy

Links:

Website: http://www.airlessband.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook/Airlessband