My expectations had been wetted by the Kings Of Mercia debut. When talking to vocalist Steve Overland, he assured me it wasn’t a one-off, and work was beginning on a follow-up. Was I excited? You bet I was.
Battle Scars is full of blistering power, it is awesome! The mastermind is guitarist Jim Matheos, known for his exhilarating work in Fates Warning. Matheos had an idea for a new project, it was always going to be Rock! Or should I say a heavy, thunderous cacophony of dynamics?
When the idea of FM’s vocalist was muted, it seemed crazy, wild. Melodic rock’s greatest would never agree, and it certainly would never work. Steve Overland agreed, hence the envisaged one-off debut.
Battle Scars uses its predecessor as a template, it is bass and drum-heavy courtesy of Joey Vera (Armoured Saint & Fates Warning) and legendary drummer Simon Phillips.) The fury that erupts from the Matheos guitar creates a volcanic, seismic noise that surely is unsuitable for Overland’s pitch-perfect vocals.
Like me if you think that you would be wrong, wrong like you have never been before! Steve Overland pushes his range with a force of such inspired magnitude it takes your breath away. I have to again refer to the debut, which contained many moments of quality, but Battle Scars is almost euphoric in the way that idea was built on.
Overland & Matheos write the songs separated by the Atlantic Ocean, they have never met, the first song they wrote from that distance was Humankind, such was the connection between the duo that Battle Scars became a must. It is packed with colossal creativity that transcends genres.
Guns And Ammunition is the first shot, it fires us off via a volley of guitar that pounds the senses. Eye To Eye sees Overland begin with a Yeah! Yeah! It full of dark melodic power. Between Two Worlds sees our vocalist do his best Paul Rogers impression over a solid blues platform of drums and bass, at times he sounds almost angry with an aggressive approach.
It is clear this collaboration has coalesced the quartet delivering an abundance of memorable songs. The title track, Battle Scars is a dark ballad, full of pain and sadness, Steve sings with beauty and feel, while Matheos delivers succinct yet subtle chords that caress. It is a story of a war veteran coming to terms with his battleground experiences and not being able to deal with the day-to-day realities of life. Aftermath offers us a glimpse of our world in the aftermath of destruction, who’s to blame? What went wrong? Why don’t we learn? It is huge and heavy, and Overland adopts a growling spoken part which is very stark and effective.
Hell ‘n’ Back drives home everything about this incredible piece of work, as it is built around a pulsating pattern, Matheos lets rip, fantastic! The closing track builds from a gentle acoustic start and then races towards its climax, Angels & Demons is a perfect place to end.
Time to get to the point, just buy the thing when it is released on October 25. Album of the year by a mile!
Review: Paul Mace
Pre-order ’Battle Scars‘ HERE:
https://eyesoremerch.com/
‘Battle Scars’ Track List:1. Guns And Ammunition
2. Eye For An Eye
3. Between Two Worlds
4. Legend
5. Battle Scars
6. Don’t Ask https://www.youtube.com/watch?
7. Aftermath https://youtu.be/
8. Hell ‘n’ Back
9. Cold
10. Angels & Demons
KINGS OF MERCIA are:
Jim Matheos – Guitars
Steve Overland – Vocals
Simon Phillips – Drums
Joey Vera – BassKINGS OF MERCIA ONLINE
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