Ban The Light (2019)

Deaf Rat

Hard Rock

Basically one could think the era of Glam Rock has gone since decades. Bon Jovi might still fills stadiums but changed the sound, Cinderella has gone, only Horror grandmaster Alice Cooper is still up on the stage like back in the days.

But like in Psychedelic Rock, there are some bands in Glam and beyond going retro like e.g. Steel Panther, Santa Cruz and Sixx:A.M. And as in many cases, right from the fortress of Death comes a band to cure you from emptiness: Deaf Rat, maybe infected from one of those “Rats And Ravens”, came to “Ban The Light”.

This they do with a lot of very Metal riffs and especially huge refrains. No wonder that the second tune “Hail The End Of Days” at least infects one completely. Played on Metal Only and the musical reference to Dool or Ghost, there is no way out from this band anymore.

“Tying You Down” might refer to “Tied My Hands” but has a lot of speed and fine drums. A drum playthrough can bring you closer to “Save Me From Myself”, being bit slower but giving clear inspiration of classic Guns ‘n’ Roses, Slash and Myles Kennedy. For the title track itself, it gets darker and finally the light actually seems to be banned.

No Hard Rock record without a ballad, “Bad Blood” tells “Let us drink from the Devil’s Fountain.” This one just stands aside of other heavy beauties from Stone Sour, Sólstafir and King 810. Those references might pop up as well in the following, adding Black Stone Cherry and Scar The Martyr.

For track number nine also “Be My Baby” works as comparison, while the final “Welcome To Hell” once more gets darker. “The Attic” could be the place to “save your prayers cause there’s no tomorrow.” In all the darkness, this awesome Heavy Rock piece includes old hard rock joy and future electrifying fantasies plus some nice cover artwork by Lukasz Jaszak.