ALBUM REVIEW: Violent Allies – 10 Years

Hard rock is a genre that can become homogeneous very quickly. The post-grunge movement of the mid to late 2000’s was one that created a massive explosion of bands that started to blend into one another and climb upon the corpses of each fellow band that fell in a race to reach the top, or at least score a Billboard Top 10 rock hit. In the wake of that era, the bands that survived and still maintain a sizeable fanbase now must work even harder to capture new fans in a landscape that finds itself distancing from hard rock more than ever. But a hook is a hook, and a great song is a great song, and Tennessee quintet 10 YEARS‘ latest record Violent Allies is a record full of songs that have hooks that are a cut above the rest.

Coming off their last record How To Live (As Ghosts) the band was already coming off a top 10 rock hit in Novocaine. This new record, featuring outstanding production from rock and roll legend Howard Benson (who the band are working with for the first time in a decade), amplifies everything that makes this band worth hearing in 2020, and a great deal of that is thanks to vocalist Jesse Hasek. His voice is reminiscent of CHEVELLE’s Pete Loeffler, but even more pointed and pronounced. It’s incredibly earnest and pleading, and his delivery is real and emotional.

The first two songs of the record, The Shift, and The Unknown are two spectacular examples of this. The former is the first single of the record, and its hook is infectious as hell. Hasek’s voice cuts through the din and just has such a unique timbre and tone that taking notice and listening deeper is easy. The rest of the band are no slouches either. The guitars roar and drums crash with melodrama, which exactly what’s needed for a record like this, with each instrument sounding perfectly thick and chunky without any muddiness.

It really is a case of hook after hook on this record, and it’s a testament to a band that’s been really keen at taking great care in their song construction even after 15 years plus. Songs like “Without You,” “I Wish,” and “Start Again,” are all fine specimens if a great chorus is being craved. Again, the band isn’t being particularly flashy behind Hasek’s plaintive vocals, but they don’t need to be. The elements there feel exactly like what belongs there, although there are flourishes with electronics and interesting drum patterns on a few tracks. But for the most part, it’s pretty meat and potatoes, but that’s A-OK on a record that sounds this good and is so melodically sound. Shoutout to the guitar tone throughout the album though, it sounds especially good and there are little twinges to be found the elevate the record further.

The album isn’t without its fat, though. Tracks like Sleep In The Fire and Waiting are musically fine, but don’t reach out and grab quite like others on the track list. There are also two instrumental interlude on the record that break up the flow a bit and didn’t feel particularly necessary to include. However, Déjà vu is a nice bit of aggression on the record, with Hasek screaming for the first and only time on the record, and closer Say Goodbye is one of the strongest songs on the record with its tribal drum beat and Hasek coming in with one of his best vocal performances on the record.

There are qualities about 10 YEARS that have and continue to separate them from their peers, and with such a cohesive unit perfecting the art of writing huge choruses that land, it’s easy to forgive the shortcomings that do appear on Violent Allies. This is a record that doesn’t need to be more than what it is, because it does what it does well and is a step up from the band’s last record; highlighting their strengths and paring down their weaknesses. With solid production at the helm, one of the most unique voices in hard rock at the forefront, and some really solid radio rock chops, this record should be a blast for most fans of any post-grunge, hard-rock, and alt-metal.

Rating: 8/10

Violent Allies is out now via Mascot Records. 

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