ALBUM REVIEW: Seven Hours After Violet – Seven Hours After Violet

Rock supergroup, SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, have put out their self-titled debut record. The band itself is a brand-new project from Shavo Odadjian [SYSTEM OF A DOWN] which also features Taylor Barber [LEFT TO SUFFER], Morgoth and Josh Johnson [WINDS OF PLAGUE], and Alejandro Aranda [SCARYPOOLPARTY]. For Odadjian, this record represents “the culmination of years of creative exploration. With SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET I wanted to return to my roots in heavy music but also bring something entirely new to the table.”

That statement is proven to be true when you listen to the album itself. With each song on the record, there is little repeated and constant experimentation with genres and sounds with heavy rock being at its core.

Opening things up we have Paradise, that opens with sounds that can only be described as a pop melody recreating a carnival organ composition, which is then taken over with a culmination of hard rock instrumentals and rough vocals that, in three words, is fast, enjoyable, and fun. The beauty with it is how gentler melodies are intertwined with the heavier sounds, an ongoing theme as seen on the rest of the record, which makes the album and the band itself anything but stereotypical.

With each track, things start with sounds that belong somewhere in the realms of being both calm and upbeat, before everything kicks off into beautiful chaos. If you’re someone who loves brutal “blegh’s”, fast metal riffs, bouncy drumbeats and powerful vocals both clean and rough, then this is the album for you. Bonus points if you’re also someone who can appreciate artists who can perfectly blend two unassuming genres of music seamlessly and in a way that has you wondering why more people don’t do this.

Every song stands out and it would be easy to just list what makes each one more epic than the other, but as we’re limited for time, highlights include: Go!, that opens up with a brutal metal riff before blending into something of the anthemic rock variety, complete with catchy “oh, oh oh’s”; Abandon that seems to open with Indian style music, contradicting the heaviness that is to follow; and the solid closing track that is Feel that interweaves gnarly riffs and loud, rough vocals with pop melodies and synths, alongside some stunning cleaner vocals, completed with it’s sick breakdown.

A solid debut album with a lengthy roster of talent, creativity and experience, could we have expected any less?

Rating: 8/10

Seven Hours After Violet is out now via Sumerian Records. 

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