PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Stone Angels is an unsigned four piece hard rock band from Brighton who release their debut album Give in to Temptation on September 4th. They are Niall Kersey on vocals and rhythm guitar, James Innes on lead guitar, Chris Wilson on bass and Ben Taylor on drums. The band was formed in 2011 and in the intervening time they’ve honed their craft with non stop touring and playing in, in their own words, “every flea pit and toilet venue in the land.” They cite a pretty varied set of influences, from Rival Sons to Five Finger Death Punch, from Black Stone Cherry to Black Spiders and that combined with four years of touring has melded into a band with a really great sound. Every song on the album is tight and full of catchy choruses and riffs worthy of some serious air guitar accompaniment.
The album opens with Misplaced Memories, which the band say is probably their next single. It’s a good opener as it shows exactly what the band is all about, a big riff from Innes on guitar, a wailing solo and a catchy chorus with excellent call and response potential for live shows.
Also featured is current single Can You? which has an intro that sounds more than a little like Metallica. It has a real stadium filling sound about it. It’s easy to see why it was chosen as the first single as it’s quite commercial sounding. You can imagine it being popular when played live as well. Highlights on the album include Last Goodbyes, a melancholic song, probably the closest thing to a ballad on the album. It’s a depressing wee number but is lifted by another excellent guitar solo. Another highlight is Fine Day, which starts off slowly, almost sounding acoustic but builds into a guitar-driven crescendo and sudden finish that leave you wanting more. Track of the album for me is Devil’s Grip, loads of great tone and really driven by Wilson and Taylor at the low end.
All in all this is great stuff for a debut, and shows loads of promise and potential. The band intend to tour the record around the UK and they’d be well worth seeing, hopefully in better venues than they’ve been used to so far.
Track Listing:
1)Misplaced Memories
2)Devil’s Child
3)Last Goodbyes
4)Can You?
5)Fantasy
6)Lines in the Sand
7)Thousand Years
8)Falling Down
9)Devil’s Grip
10)Fine Day
11)Shadows of the Black Sun
Links:
- 7.99
