Girish And The Chronicles: Hail To The Heroes

Girish And The Chronicles (GATC) is an Indian hard rock band whose name and sound is centered around the vocal talents of Girish Pradhan. Hail To The Heroes is the name of their latest album. I’m instantly impressed by this release. The opening track "Primeval Desire" is a rip snorter of a track that only needs a few moments to hook me in. By way of comparison I feel like this song captures a similar vibe and energy to some of the heavier tracks from the Darkness’ debut album- the guitar tone is great, the riffing is solid and the vocals are classy.

Whilst the opening track is a fist-pumper, the album is a tasting plate of all sorts of hard rock styles-to quote the accompanying press release “From the Sunset Strip to NWOBHM and more�. This is a fair statement; I hear a lot of different hard rock / heavy metal influences over the course of this release, all of which are pretty convincing and delivered in a cohesive manner. I tend to prefer the heavier tracks, but they do a good job with the AOR style numbers too.

"Shamans Of Time" is a standout track for me alongside the album opener. "Shamans" has an almost Alice in Chains vibe in sections, along with some of the more virtuosic moments on the release. The album is closed out with a fun number entitled "Rock N’Roll Fever" which is notable for featuring Chris Adler (Lamb of God) on drums. Digging into this it seems that Girish also has a side project with Chris Adler, Firstborne, where he plays alongside James LoMenzo too. On the surface it seems like an unlikely collaboration, but it works.

I must admit, traditional Hard Rock isn’t a genre that I find myself listening to a great deal, especially when it comes to new releases. It’s not that I don’t enjoy this style; it’s more that hard rock was done so well in the 70s and 80s that when I get the itch I reach for the classics. With that said, a well-executed rock album is always an enjoyable listen, so receiving a pre-release stream of GATC’s latest album was a welcome addition to my usual listening. A quality release that will hopefully continue to see Girish And The Chronicles’ name rise in hard rock circles.

Tracklist:

1. Primeval Desire
2. Children Of The Night
3. I'm Not The Devil
4. Love's Damnation
5. Clearing The Blur
6. Lover's Train
7. Rock And Roll Jack
8. Hail To The Heroes (intro)
9. Hail To The Heroes
10. Shamans Of Time
11. Heaven's Crying
12. Rock N' Roll Fever ft. Chris Adler, Myrone, Rowan Robertson

Added: February 13th 2022
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1051
Language: english

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