CD Review: Initial Mass “Bending Light”

Initial Mass formed when high school friends Mark Baldwin and Kevin Robertson joined up with another longtime friend, Scott Smith. And when the Los Angeles-based band Initial Mass came together, the familiarity found within the trio helped solidify the band’s music. That familiarity with each other can truly be an added bonus. What resulted was a trio that shared a familiarity with each other and a love for the same type of music.

With Mark Baldwin on guitar, vocals as well as songwriting, Scott Smith on bass and Kevin Robertson on drums, the three musicians create a trio that draws from Heavy Metal and Punk Rock.  Together, the resulting music falls solidly into the Progressive Rock category. Add in a good amount of Pop feel to the length of each and every track created by the band has a very energetic feel to it but would be welcome on any Modern Rock and/or Classic Rock radio format. That rather commercial feel in the Progressive Rock music from Initial Mass can be found on the band’s newest album entitled Bending Light.

Bending Light from Initial Mass begins with the track “Killing Heroes”. The slow but steady beat from drummer Robertson gives a strong base for the bass from Smith and guitar from Baldwin as the trio creates a song that moves forward with plenty of energy, creating a track that features a musical influence from a band like Queens of the Stone Age. The slow and steady pace at the beginning gives the listener a lot of power and then the band picks up the pace. The quicker pace creates a tempo that draws the listener in closer to the music. The clear, strong vocals from Mark Baldwin would place him within any Classic Rock band. His vocals and the music from the entire band create a track that would be perfect for any Modern Rock format.

The new album from Initial Mass continues with the title track of the release. The track “Bending Light” features all three of the musicians as the track begins with the sound of the drums from Robertson and the bass from Smith. It is Smith’s bass that lays down the foundation of the music for this track as he plays the instrument in much the same way guitarist Mark Baldwin would if he was creating the basis for the track. The resulting music from Smith’s bass creates an almost Jazz-like approach to the track. Soon enough, guitarist Baldwin and drummer Robertson join in and the track takes on a much different feel to the music. The track combines a generous amount of Rock and Roll and some Jazz influence to create a sound that alternates between hard and easier passages. “Bending Light” is easily one of the standout tracks on the album.

With the track “Reason to Take,” the men of Initial Mass show off their musical abilities. This track contains a slightly stronger Progressive Rock feel to the music and the ever-changing rhythms give the song its Prog-Rock approach. The alternating between one rhythmic pattern and another also adds to the progressive feel to the music. The vocals from Mark Baldwin add a generous amount of Classic Rock flavor to the track. For those who are true fans of Prog-Rock, “Reason to Take” is one track from the band where you will find just what you’re looking for. However, the track also contains plenty for fans of straight-out Rock and Roll as well.   

Initial Mass picks up the pace of their music quite a bit on the song “Resolution”. The quicker pace to the music adds more energy to the album and much like with the track “Reason to Take,” the music of the song “Resolution” changes tempos several times throughout the four-minute playtime. But the changes in tempo come gradually during the song and seem near effortless. This is a sure sign of the talent of the trio. About halfway through the track, the band slows the pace of the track down while also lightening the intensity of the music. In short, the track now takes on the feel of a power ballad but without the emotional connection. After a minute or so, the energy level increases and it is that level that brings the song to a close.

“Silence No More” by Initial Mass is the type of track that feels as if it should have been a lot longer. The slow-paced track begins with a thirty second instrumental introduction. After that, the track takes on a musical approach that feels like a combination of Modern Rock and Classic Rock as the vocals from lead singer Mark Baldwin take on a slight resemblance to the vocals of legendary rocker Jim Morrison. In fact, with those vocals, the track itself feels like a mix between The Doors and Queens of the Stone Age. “Silence No More” is one of the tracks on the Bending Light album from Initial Mass that will grab the attention of the listener.

The Bending Light album from Initial Mass comes to a close with the track “Embers Within”. The track begins rather unassumingly as singer Mark Baldwin’s his guitar initially contain a laidback feel and his vocals add to that low-key approach. That is short-lived, however, as the rest of the band join in ten seconds later. Keeping a slow pace, the stronger musical approach finds the band creating a track that marches along slowly but with plenty of energy to the music. The hard, solid quality to the music brings to mind the Heavy Metal of the eighties. The slow pace, yet energetic feel to the music of the track allows for “Embers Within” to feel like the perfect track to bring the Bending Light from Initial Mass to a close.

On their latest album of Bending Light, Initial Mass keeps things interesting with a release that features songs that contain a good variety of music. While drawing mostly from Progressive Rock, the Bending Light release from the band is easily accessible as the band keeps the more progressive elements to a minimum. Because of that, the album appeals to both fans of Prog-Rock as well as those who want music that is a little more listener-friendly.

The Bending Light release from Initial Mass is being released on July 26th, 2019. Because of that, there are no singles to be promoted yet. Stay tuned to the band’s website for more information.

For more information, check out Initial Mass’ PR Firm, Whiplash Marketing & Whizkid Management. Click on the logo below to visit their site.

CD Review: Energy Alchemist “Reminder”

California-based band Energy Alchemist is the brainchild of Bill Hankins, a multi-talented musician who draws his influences from many different sources and musical styles. Because of that, the music he creates is guitar-driven but also contains plenty of keyboard sound that helps to give his music a very strong multi-layered feel.

Initially, Energy Alchemist was a one-man creation with Bill Hankins creating everything himself. Soon, however, Hankins found himself the possibility of something bigger and richer. That was where the concept of expanding the musical concept of Energy Alchemist into a full band was born. Soon, the band consisted of Bill Hankins on Guitar, Vocals, and Programming; Erik Koski on Bass, Matt Heath on Drums and guitarist Julian Sterling. Together, the newly-formed quartet is taking the music of Energy Alchemist to where it has never been.

Currently, Energy Alchemist is busy creating new music. And having already releasing a full-length album entitled Ghost in the Machine earlier in 2017, the band has returned with yet another release; a three-song EP entitled Reminder.

The Reminder EP begins with the sole original track from Energy Alchemist entitled “Reminder”. The EP’s title track begins with an electronic feel to the music as electronic drums join forces with keyboards that create a slightly Middle Eastern musical approach. The music is joined by Bill Hankins as his vocals adds to the exotic feel of the track. That exotic sound turns quickly into something heavier as the band creates a track that is a lot closer to Heavy Metal than the first thirty seconds had been. The rest of the track features that Heavy Metal feel to the music with solid bass lines, strong drums and the sound of two guitars that blend together to create a solid Heavy Metal sound. It’s the interaction between Bill Hankins and guitarist Julian Sterling that helps to make the melodic metal come to life. Soon, the addition of keyboard programming joins the guitars to create a track with lots of depth to the music. The nearly six-minute track shows off the two different mindsets of electronic and Heavy Metal that the band members bring to the music of Energy Alchemist.

Setting this release apart from anything that had been released by Energy Alchemist in the past, the three-song EP is part tribute release as two of the tracks included in the release are the band’s reworkings of songs from a Heavy Metal band that had come from the town of Ukiah in Northern California. That band was named Definition Unknown. The two songs remade by Energy Alchemist end up being a short but sweet tribute to the now-defunct band that existed from 2002-2008.

The first of the two tracks from Definition Unknown that was remade by Energy Alchemist is the track “Way Too Late”. Comparing the two versions of “Way Too Late,” Energy Alchemist starts their version staying pretty loyal to the original material. So loyal, in fact, that for the first minute or so, the listener would have a hard time telling the two versions apart. In time, however, Energy Alchemist brings in a lot more of the Electronic/Metal mixture that’s present in the band’s style. The Electronic/Metal mixture takes the Definition Unknown track and gives the song a fresh musical take. Between the two versions of “Way Too Late,” what it ultimately comes down to is which style of music you like better. But overall, Energy Alchemist has produced a version of the song that pays homage to Definition Unknown and does it in a classy way.

Energy Alchemist follows their tribute of Definition Unknown’s “Way Too Late” with their version of the Northern California band’s song “Flush”. Like Energy Alchemist’s version of “Way Too Late,” they stay pretty loyal to the original version of the track. In fact, they stay closer to the original version of the song “Flush” than they did with the first cover. Of course, the electronics in Energy Alchemist’s version do shine through in their version, but the overall feel stays the same until late in the track. It is late in the five-minute playtime that the band introduces strings into the song. The inclusion of strings is what truly sets the two versions apart.

The three songs that make up the 2016 Reminder EP from Energy Alchemist shows off the talent of the members of the band. Plus, the artwork used for the album was based on artwork created by Bill Hankins’ father, proving that talent does run in families.

Energy Alchemist will shortly be celebrating the release of their Reminder EP. For more information on the release date, check out the band’s website. Until the release date, check out the video to the band’s song “Awaken the Dreamers“. 

For more information, check out the band’s PR firm, Whiplash PR.  

 

Single Review: Ammarah “Sengsara”

Ammarah is a five-piece Heavy Metal band from Singapore consisting of vocalist and frontman Aliz, Lead guitarist Aiz, keyboardist Allie, bassist Ruffy and drummer HerryK that has created a sound that would make any lover of Heavy Metal happy. The band takes elements of classic metal bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and combines them with the more recent melodic metal sounds of bands like Dream Theatre. The band is currently in the middle recording but has released one of the tracks as a way to promote their upcoming EP. The song “Sengsara” is a track that was created when lyrics from Aliz were combined with a song written by Wan a decade ago. “Sengsara” begins with a very energetic build-up before the entire band launches into a song that has a classic metal feel. The vocals performed by Aliz have the same energy and delivery as anything that Ronnie James Dio and the music will easily remind you of a cross between Dio and Dream Theatre. Taking their place in the world of heavy metal, Ammarah allows the heaviness of the guitars from Wan and the lightness of the keys from Allie combine to create a track that alternates between a hard metal approach and a lighter melodic approach for the five minutes that make up the length of the song. If the song “Sengsara” is anything to go by, the upcoming release from Ammarah should be a very enjoyable heavy metal release.

Go to the band’s website to check out this song. Stay tuned for the release of the entire EP by Ammarah.