Severe

This album for me is a solid hard rock offering. Musically strong and lyrically engaging, this album deserves a good listen. The overall feel and recording of this album are rock solid and dead on.

From the first track, “Group Method” you get the feeling that you are in for an enjoyable listen, that is if you like it loud, fast and hard. With guitar work from Richard Burrows that is as solid as it is powerful and a bass groove from Chris Larue that seems to flow seamlessly through the song, “Group Method” is a definite keeper. On the track “Busy Busy”, the drums alone in this song are worth listening to the track. Those are ably handled by Bill Farley. David Perkins vocal performance on this track is right at the edge without stepping over. Eerily reminiscent of David Draiman from Disturbed, David handles this performance well.

Ah, “Blissful Ignorance”, how true those words are about a large portion of the population. This offering does a superb job of describing just that. While showing the more melodic talents Richard and Chris and the vocal range of David this song captures the heart of someone who is blissfully ignorant. “Sadness”, the fourth track of the album, does it’s job of conveying a sense of just that, sadness. Bringing the feeling of sadness is the musical ability of Chris, Richard and Bill to interweave the guitar riffs and drums to create a sense of tension. David molds his melody to fit perfectly with the feeling of the song.

With a song like “Self-Medication”, most of us can relate. One of the fastest paced tracks on the album, it shows these guys are serious about what they do. Lyrical content is in abundance with this one with lines like, “Don’t take my pills away. I can’t make it my own way.”. You will take something away from this on. I guarantee. The sixth track, “Who’s got your Praise”, is heavy on guitar, drums and a very infectious groove. Severe pulled of this one with apparent ease. Listen, you will like it.

To this point the album has delivered a wall of heavy guitar, bass and drums. “Think about Me” is no different. The bass line on this song is probably my favorite. Continuing to show his vocal prowess David nails the clean smooth parts as well as the more guttural. “Over” is a song that I do not have to write anything about. It stands on it own. Just listen and you will understand.

With melodic guitars and a bass line that moves you along through the song, “She Speaks”, brings a new respect for the musical talent of the group. You can feel the pain of the woman in the song thanks to the feeling David’s vocal instill. Grabbing you by the throat from the first powerful riff, “Temperature” is a marvelous way to finish this album. It is the clincher for what has been an enjoyable album to review.

Final thoughts for this album are easy to write due to the talent of the members of Severe. A rock solid offering from what seems to be a rock solid unit of musicians. In short give this album a listen, I think that you will enjoy it.  [ END ]

* note: J.D. Franklin founded and runs http://www.bhamrevolution.com a top resource for unsigned talent in the US

Track Listing:

01. Group Method
02. Busy Busy
03. Blissful Ignorance
04. Sadness
05. Self-Medication
06. Who’s Got Your Praise?
07. Think About Me
08. Over
09. She Speaks
10. Temperature

Run Time: 40:39