ALBUM REVIEW: Nothing But A Bitter Taste – Rabid Bitch Of The North
Following on from the release of their single Green Eyes and a compilation album, RABID BITCH OF THE NORTH are due to release their debut full length album, Nothing But A Bitter Taste, with the Irish heavy metal trio teaming up with Hostile Media.
The band are renowned for their NWOBHM influences, and pretty much straight away you can hear them. The first track off the album, The Missionary, begins with a heavy but simplistic riff via guitarist Gerard Muholland, which could have been taken straight from a JUDAS PRIEST or IRON MAIDEN record. The pace begins to pick up a bit as it gears towards the first verse, with frontman Joe McDonnell delivering vocals which echo the younger days of Rob Halford. Putting it all together and you have yourself a solid opening track.
After a relatively gentle rhythm to ease you into the record, the following track Chance takes things up a notch – both percussion and guitar increase in tempo and the whole sound begins to take on more of a thrash metal sound. Again though, when the whole package comes together it is a sound effort and works very well. The title track shifts back to the more traditional sounding heavy metal, and leads up to an epic chorus, and no doubt would be one of the stand out tracks at a live show.
Considering there are only eight tracks on the record, each one is very well executed by the trio, and they are all unique enough that you can tell the difference between each track, unlike some albums where most of the songs all sound too similar. It’s difficult enough for any band to break into the current rock and metal scene, particularly when it is not as mainstream as in previous years, but what is even more difficult is taking something like NWOBHM and putting it back out there.
Having listened to the record though, it is clear that RABID BITCH OF THE NORTH can pull it off. They’ve taken that classic heavy metal sound from the 70s and 80s and managed to put their own spin on it, so that, even though the sound itself sounds familiar, it is a refreshing take on it and manages to sound almost brand new.
For anyone who is a fan of traditional heavy metal, especially the British heavy metal bands, then this record is right up your alley. The riffs, vocals and overall sound of the tracks takes you right back to the time when heavy metal was huge across the world, and echoes some of those bands mentioned before. Considering it is their debut record, RBOTN have done a stellar job, and Nothing But A Bitter Taste has the potential to be one of the best albums to come out of 2017.
Rating: 9/10
Nothing But A Bitter Taste is set for release on August 18th via Hostile Media.
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