PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
To be honest I’m a bit late arriving to the table for Montreal rockers The Damn Truth after reviewing their latest single ‘This Is Who We Are Now’ only a month ago which completely blew me away. It’s taken from their third studio album Now Or Nowhere, due for release on May 7th via Spectra Music/Sony Music and produced by Bob Rock!
These nine tracks bristle with a cocksure attitude that demand total attention as the album burst into life from the off with the call to arms bravado of the aforementioned ‘This Is Who We Are Now’. Rib rattling snare drums ease off to let it settle into riff heavy hard rock as bass guitar thuds like Thor’s hammer but the spotlight is stolen by a vocal tour de force from Lee-La Baum that switches from a whisper to lung stripping howls as this rager closes on a molten hot guitar solo and full on band freak out.
A brief moment of calm comes from the sultry blues of ‘Tomorrow’. The guitar intro grabs you and the lyrics are delivered with a put up or shut up attitude as the mood lightens up for the choruses.
‘Only Love’ is a joyous glad to be alive song that burst into life after an emotional intro vocal of “Only love can keep us going, so if we hold on it’ll be alright”. The lyrics then give a further message of hope followed by wah wah guitar and 24 carat ear melting solos.
The deceivingly mellow start to ‘Lonely’ blasts into a fuzzed up flail of sassy vocals and piledriving dynamics. A tortured howl from Lee heralds another outrageous guitar solo as the song ends as frail as it started. A curious three minutes to say the least.
Melodies caress with a ‘Wish You Were Here’ vibe throughout ‘Everything Fades’ and the vocals hit a new level of emotion as they are one hundred percent worn with a heart on sleeve approach.
Drum driven pounds are the sturdy backbone for ‘The Fire’ which ignites for a helium fuelled vocal tirade. It’s a stripped down to its bare bones plead to make it my album highlight!
Another cathartic release comes from ‘Look Innocent’, a song of love lost with an opening line of “There’s a game that we play I always lose cos I don’t know the rules”. It’s a very deep and claustrophobic number that is hard to listen to but still a very rewarding one.
Air guitars are compulsory for the main riff of ‘Full On You’ as it lives up to the full on part with an epiphany of emotions that get even more in your face when Lee hits her stride as does guitar wizardry.
They leave us with what’s left of our heart and hearing with the ballsy balladry of ‘Shot Em’. Lyrics are poignant which we can easily relate to. Quaint verses and Godzilla like musical stomps make for a four minute white knuckle ride that sees Lee pour out one last superhuman vocal. A truly astonishing album!
Band and pre-order album links are here :- https://www.facebook.com/thedamntruth ….. http://linktr.ee/thedamntruth …..http://www.thedamntruth.com …..https://www.youtube.com/user/thedamntruthtube
Now Or Nowhere album track listing :-
This Is Who We Are Now.
Tomorrow.
Only Love.
Lonely.
Everything Fades.
The Fire.
Look Innocent.
Full On You.
Shot ‘Em.
The Damn Truth band line up :-
Lee-La Baum – Lead Vocals/Guitar/Tambourine.
Tom Shemer – Guitar/Keyboards/Mandolin/Tambourine/Vocals.
Py Letterlier – Bass Guitar/Tambourine/Vocals.
Dave Traina – Drums/Vocal.
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