Band: Cadence Noir
Album: Physical Copy
Release Date: 22nd December 2018
Record Label: A.J. Perrie
I first heard about Cadence Noir when I was checking out the bands playing Bloodstock Festival in 2018, and I featured them in my New Blood Stage preview. I sadly didn’t get the chance to see them at Bloodstock itself. Their guitarist and vocalist Ade very kindly sent me their debut album (after several EP and single releases), and so it was only right of me to have a listen and give it a review.
We kick off with The Traveller. It’s probably the happiest start to an album I’ve heard. More often than not albums start with an epic or mysterious instrumental intro track, or a full length song that builds up the atmosphere for the rest of the album. However, The Traveller is happy and jolly, and the vocals are clean with a bit of grit behind them.
The Remoaner is a heavier track, grittier and faster. It has the feel of a heavy metal track but a guitar track is replaced by the violin. It is definitely more of a headbanging track than the happy jolly start there was with The Traveller. Demon’s Lament is a faster paced jiggy and folky song, definitely one you could start a good old jig pit to. There are calmer sections but the main body is fast and dancey.
Church has a Billy Idol style intro and has a slower pace than the previous couple of tracks. There is still a good beat to it and something you can nod your head to and bounce around to. Voyages brings the pace down again, it has a more solemn feeling and is more chilled out, it’s something to sway along to.
A Truth Held Dear is the first track when I really heard the lyrical content for the first time, and it is definitely not what you expect from a folky style album. The music feels like it belongs in an American dive bar somewhere, with a man sat at the bar on his own drinking whiskey, singing of his woes. Homage brings back the more upbeat feel to the instrumental, paying homage to fallen musicians from the past.
Hold Me Down again brings the American rock and dive bar feel, it definitely has a Southern rock and blues vibe to it. A Dove Amongst Eagles is the ballad of the album, it’s much slower paced with a somber start and slow buildup on the individual elements. It has the feel of a 90’s rock love song, and is a track you could hold your lighters (or phone light) in the air for.
The album also includes a bonus track, #FFBB, which is a good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll track. It’s definitely one to tap your feet to and have a bit of a boogie.
This album is maybe something I wouldn’t have immediately picked up from the cover and album title, but I did really enjoy the tracks. It’s a little bit out of my normal taste, but I had a lot of fun listening to it, and it brought back memories of some of the music I used to listen to in the late 90’s and early 00’s, when you had bands that used to sing of lost love and have some real emotion and feel behind the music, but not the “emo” style. I’m thinking of the bands that had a bit more country influence, even bands like Creed or The Calling. For me that isn’t a bad thing. I love nostalgia. The album also keeps some of the recording studio banter which I love, it gives the album a more raw and relaxed feel, some bands can be a little too pretentious on their releases.
Cadence Noir are going to be returning to the live circuit very soon, and as they are British I am hoping that I can make it to at least one of their shows.
Verdict: 8/10
Buy Cadence Noir music and merch: https://cadencenoir.bandcamp.com/merch
Follow Cadence Noir on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CadenceNoir/
Listen to Cadence Noir on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7mbdMAjF8iu82EEKTDt9js
Ostara Metal 