SPY # ROW – Blood Brothers
- Posted on 26-04-2019
The German trio named SPY # ROW has been together for ages despite the fact that these guys are quite young. Apparently, they started jamming together when they were only kids, which explains why the promo sheet states that they are experienced musicians who have been at it for years. To be a bit more specific, these skilled dudes formed SPY # ROW fourteen years ago, but this eleven-track effort titled “Blood Brothers” is their debut offering.
“Blood Brothers” is essentially a melodic hard rock album with a slightly raw edge to it, and the entire affair leans towards hair metal at times. In terms of the adrenaline-fueled riffs and melodies, there are nods to the infamous 80s LA scene, but SPY # ROW never manage to reach those stratospheric heights or the level of quality that many of the glorious bands from back then do (or did, if you will). What primarily frustrates yours truly about this record is the vocals as they fail to infuse the songs with power and passion. A solid dose of cool ideas and wicked hooks abound throughout “Blood Brothers”, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with either the musicianship or production as such, but the vocals leave something to be desired and never really manage to take off or stir any emotions within the listener. On top of that, they are a tad uneasy on the ear from time to time, which is a damn shame as the tunes suffer as a result of this. That especially goes for the power ballads such as “My Chance” and “If You Say You Love Me”. Frankly speaking, both of them are horrible. Also, the majority of compositions are pretty straightforward and predictable, which entails that there are no musical curve-balls or surprises in store for you here. The best and most memorable cuts are “Heartbreaker” and “I Ain’t Falling” as they possess more attitude and nerve than the others not to mention that they are most well-written ones to be found on the disc.
Despite the fact that this is hardly an innovative or original output, it is not without its merits and as stated earlier on, the trio knows how to conjure up some arena-sized riffs now and again that ought to thrill all lovers of fist-pumping hard rock, but at the end of the day “Blood Brothers” is a flawed piece of work that pales in comparison to so many other similar releases out there. Having said that, it will be interesting to see how SPY # ROW will evolve as there is a lot of potential on display here. In short, they ought to find a musical identity of their own and implement some razor-sharp vocals capable of piercing your eardrums in the future.