
The Rockin’ Dead
Here Comes the Darkness
Rising Star Promotions
2016
The Rockin’ Dead is a newcomer that hails from Greece and it was formed in 2013 by Costas Striftos on vocals & guitar and Panos Malahias on guitar. Later the delightful singer Anna Economopoulos joined the band and everything was set and done so as to put their debut release out.
Music wise the band has blended various music styles such as alternative rock, acoustic rock, pop-rock, art-rock, atmospheric and modern rock, along with a few rock noir touches, creating a very interesting music amalgam. I do fancy how Anna’s wonderful voice fits so well the band’s music on the whole. Even the male vocals are fine without being anything that special… they just add some nice touches here & there. The guest appearances by John Dimoulas on drums (“City of Sin”), Lefteris Pouliou on keyboards, saxophone, Triantafyllos Vavatsikos on violin, Aliki Sifnaiou on cello and Kostas Tenezos on harmonica, make the final outcome even more enjoyable. I’d like to see the band keep “experiment” with more instruments such as these in the future. The album was recorded and mixed by Adrianos Papamarkou at 133 Studio, Athens, Greece & mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering, Los Angeles, California, USA. The production is very good largely, although there’s certainly room for improvement.
Both the rocking and the calmer moments of the album are satisfactory. The best tracks, according to my opinion are: “Angel in Distress”, “Reckless Soul”, “No Man’s Girl” (that has a Nick Cave-like rock noir atmosphere), “City of Sin”, “Here Comes the Darkness” and “Burn & Fade”. Apart from the nice/tight songwriting, I do think that Anna steals the shows with her warmth & wonderful voice. It’s true that “Here Comes the Darkness” set the basis for what’s to come and gives a first taste of what this gifted band is capable of. The first phase has been completed positively. Personally I do think that the atmospheric rock noir side of theirs is quite compelling and they should focus there as well. The fans who fancy alternative pop/rock music with female vocals they should give this new band a chance… after all The Rockin’ Dead have put a great effort to come up with their debut and they deserve to reach a wider audience…
Music wise the band has blended various music styles such as alternative rock, acoustic rock, pop-rock, art-rock, atmospheric and modern rock, along with a few rock noir touches, creating a very interesting music amalgam. I do fancy how Anna’s wonderful voice fits so well the band’s music on the whole. Even the male vocals are fine without being anything that special… they just add some nice touches here & there. The guest appearances by John Dimoulas on drums (“City of Sin”), Lefteris Pouliou on keyboards, saxophone, Triantafyllos Vavatsikos on violin, Aliki Sifnaiou on cello and Kostas Tenezos on harmonica, make the final outcome even more enjoyable. I’d like to see the band keep “experiment” with more instruments such as these in the future. The album was recorded and mixed by Adrianos Papamarkou at 133 Studio, Athens, Greece & mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering, Los Angeles, California, USA. The production is very good largely, although there’s certainly room for improvement.
Both the rocking and the calmer moments of the album are satisfactory. The best tracks, according to my opinion are: “Angel in Distress”, “Reckless Soul”, “No Man’s Girl” (that has a Nick Cave-like rock noir atmosphere), “City of Sin”, “Here Comes the Darkness” and “Burn & Fade”. Apart from the nice/tight songwriting, I do think that Anna steals the shows with her warmth & wonderful voice. It’s true that “Here Comes the Darkness” set the basis for what’s to come and gives a first taste of what this gifted band is capable of. The first phase has been completed positively. Personally I do think that the atmospheric rock noir side of theirs is quite compelling and they should focus there as well. The fans who fancy alternative pop/rock music with female vocals they should give this new band a chance… after all The Rockin’ Dead have put a great effort to come up with their debut and they deserve to reach a wider audience…