I was fortunate enough to have Scarlet Revolt send me a number of their new songs off of their recent album ‘Cold Town’. Before I go any further if you are a fan of any sort of rock music and bad-ass female vocals, I believe we’ve found you a new friend.
Immediately upon hitting play you can tell this band deserves more spotlight than they receive. Even after a few bellowing guitar strums you can come to the conclusion that these guys are experienced musicians. I’ve heard and pass on the information that songwriting can truly be done by anybody. Today’s current popular music proves that fact. A lot of the time in music you hear lyrics but it takes a very good group of musicians to make you FEEL what they felt when writing/recording their tracks. Scarlet Revolt have mastered the emotional connection between listener and entertainer. Songwriter and guitarist Phillip Hatfield and the rest of SR has absolutely perfected writing sets of lyrics for their vocal acrobat Eve-Marcum-Atkinson to bellow.
With every tempo change, chord transition and line of lyrics you feel the energy this band puts forward. The first song I listened to was titled “Slow Fade”. I fell in love instantaneously with the production value and precise method of rocking they put forth. From the opening grunge-like guitar riff down to the haunting female melodies that bridge each verse, you feel the intense studio presence they possess. They convinced me to not fade into the dark with someone who doesn’t deserve it, and to buy tickets to the next show they have around my area.
After the initial melodic song ended I couldn’t wait for the next track. An upbeat, abrasive “Secrets” met my ears. With a classical hard rock build up to the chorus and a rock solid (no pun intended) percussion set from drummer CJ Davis to hold the wave of beautiful notes in check in your ear drums, I was reminded of the secret and ‘dangerous’ affairs and rendezvous’ of my youth. I was thrust into a flashback while the enticing vocals led me all the way up to an impromptu guitar solo that made me wish I never quit my lessons back in the day.
The amazing thing about Scarlet Revolt is that they don’t have one song that sounds like another. Each 3-6 minute rock anthem is unique and passionate in it’s own sense. ‘One Like You’ makes you remember how many relationship bullets you’ve missed while headbanging to cacophonous cymbal crashes and pile-driving female vocals. You can’t help but want to agree with Eve Marcum-Atkinson’s graceful and edgy voice and whatever she’s singing about.
In ‘Ghost of You’ you can feel the vibration’s from Phil “X” Crace’s bass down to your core while the rest of the band follows suit in a track that made had me realizing my mortality, life position and how much life there is to live. The guitar, bass and drum bridges into the chorus called forth an urge to mosh out all of the feelings leaving me with a burning desire to see their stage presence.
Bottom line is that Scarlet Revolt can rekindle your faith in the heavy rock industry. With that said, my favorite track I’ve heard is ‘Bleed’. This would be the one I’d tell people to listen to first. After starting with an acoustic intro that reminds you of the golden days, sliding into an amazing guitar riff and beautifully slowing the tempo down; the song takes you on a roller coaster of vocal passion, empathy and aggression with the hardest sounding bass drum beats known to man. To top it off Hatfield shreds the guitar solo to a mind melting proportion. There’s enough tempo changes to make cause a rock-gasm and keep the 7 minute ‘Bleed’ on repeat for hours.
CincyUnderground.com and myself are extremely excited to be friends with such an amazing group of musicians. If your catalog of metal and rock music doesn’t include SR and their incredible sophomore album ‘Cold Town’, I can assure you that you’re missing out.
Brenden Davis 