Heartbanger
Through the Dark
Independent Release
2016
With a name like that I didn’t really know what to expect, but my initial hunch, that this was gonna be particularly melodic, wasn’t far off. Heartbanger is a melodic Spanish quartet and as much as I tried to think of any or many great Spanish melodic bands I only could come up with a few, which were more hard rock oriented too ie Sangre Azul, 91 Suite etc. or too pop to be considered rock. They sort of fill in the void quite nicely and capably too, as their overall style and performances aren’t bad at all.
If something is a little off-putting or at least a little distracting is the fact that the band employs four different vocalists, so there’s a bit of a difference between each of the tracks, so if for instance you like the tracks were Tony Mills (SHY, TNT) leads (and you should), you might fang Manu Esteve’s (Hardreams) performances a little more restrained and Angel Rubin’s downright terrible. While Gabrielle De Val of the “Val” is holding quite fine on her own, adding a bit more variety to the male dominated album.
Xavi Mendez, who is the mastermind behind this album, can surely pen decent tunes, and Alberto Fernandez (of Tokio) on keyboards lends his significant expertise as well, along with the rhythmical team of Paco Munoz (bass) and Luis Alvarez (drums), but a little more character and a more spirit in the performances and decisive editing would have greatly benefited this album in terms of effect and appeal as well, I’m led to believe. Still worth keeping an eye out for in the future.
If something is a little off-putting or at least a little distracting is the fact that the band employs four different vocalists, so there’s a bit of a difference between each of the tracks, so if for instance you like the tracks were Tony Mills (SHY, TNT) leads (and you should), you might fang Manu Esteve’s (Hardreams) performances a little more restrained and Angel Rubin’s downright terrible. While Gabrielle De Val of the “Val” is holding quite fine on her own, adding a bit more variety to the male dominated album.
Xavi Mendez, who is the mastermind behind this album, can surely pen decent tunes, and Alberto Fernandez (of Tokio) on keyboards lends his significant expertise as well, along with the rhythmical team of Paco Munoz (bass) and Luis Alvarez (drums), but a little more character and a more spirit in the performances and decisive editing would have greatly benefited this album in terms of effect and appeal as well, I’m led to believe. Still worth keeping an eye out for in the future.