{"id":45382,"date":"2014-10-04T15:51:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-04T20:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=45382"},"modified":"2014-10-04T15:51:47","modified_gmt":"2014-10-04T20:51:47","slug":"shamans-harvest-smokin-hearts-broken-guns-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/shamans-harvest-smokin-hearts-broken-guns-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaman\u2019s Harvest | Smokin\u2019 Hearts & Broken Guns<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Matt Karpe<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Shaman\u2019sShaman\u2019s Harvest\u2019s fifth studio album, their first since 2009, finds the band ready to cement their position amongst the best in the U.S. hard rock scene. <\/p>\n

Smokin\u2019 Hearts\u2026<\/em> is the Shaman\u2019s debut release for Mascot Records and after a tumultuous recording process, it is a testimony to the quintets perseverance that this was released at all.<\/p>\n

The hero of the album is undoubtedly vocalist Nathan Hunt, who during the recording sessions was diagnosed with a lymph cancer in the throat. Not to be content with sitting it out whilst undergoing serious treatment, Hunt amazingly continued to record on a daily basis to make sure the record was released on time.<\/p>\n

Reading this before hearing the finished product, you might feel slightly reserved on what the vocal work may sound like, but rest assured, Nathan Hunt has put on one hell of a performance. The admirable variation in his vocal box makes him stand out from the crowd so put aside the cancer treatment he was undertaking; Mr Hunt is a pretty damn good vocalist in his own right and people should start to take notice of that.<\/p>\n

The rest of the band deserve a special mention also because Smokin\u2019 Hearts & Broken Guns<\/em> includes some exceptional guitar work from Josh Hamler and Ryan Tomlinson (who has since left the band), who contribute some heavy riffs and delicious solo\u2019s. Matt Fisher provides some tasty bass lines and Joe Harrington\u2019s drum work is largely thunderous.<\/p>\n

\u201cDangerous\u201d is a good hard rock anthem that showcases Hunt\u2019s vicious snarl. A stomping chorus made for radio accompanies a nice solo that sets the early pace of the record.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere It Comes\u201d is another prime example of hard rock made for the radio airwaves. The verses have an interesting Queens Of the Stone Age southern twang to them, but the chorus rips away the cobwebs once more.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen Million Voices\u201d and the genius of \u201cDirty Diana\u201d rock hard, and there are some good country-tinged rockers in the form of \u201cBlood In the Water\u201d and the aptly titled \u201cCountry As Fuck\u201d, which is fast and almost punky, but it is one of the more enjoyable tracks on the album.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Chains\u201d is a candidate for best hard rock song of the year. The chorus is brilliant, made better by the use of some well-placed backing vocals. The guitars riffs are shreddingly good and the drumming is huge. Hunt\u2019s best vocal performance is saved for this song also, making it the standout moment on Smokin\u2019 Hearts<\/em> \u2026<\/p>\n

There are a few slower songs, maybe one too many to be honest, but \u201cIn the End\u201d and \u201cSilent Voice\u201d, the latter especially with its piano balladry is easy on the ear. The second half of the track is a great finish to the record, as the guitars and drums return for one last lesson in awesome instrumentation.<\/p>\n

Shaman\u2019s Harvest might not bring anything ground-breaking to the hard rock table, but Smokin\u2019 Hearts<\/em>\u2026 is definitely one of the better albums released this year. They don\u2019t seem to get the exposure like similar artists Black Stone Cherry and (dare I say it) Nickelback, but five albums in it may be time for them to make their stock grow a little bigger.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock, Southern Rock, Country Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nNathan Hunt- Vocals
\nRyan Tomlinson- Lead Guitar
\nJosh Hamler- Rhythm Guitar
\nMatt Fisher- Bass
\nJoe Harrington- Drums<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tDangerous
\n2.\tHere It Comes
\n3.\tTen Million Voices
\n4.\tBlood In the Water
\n5.\tThe End Of Me
\n6.\tCountry As Fuck
\n7.\tHero
\n8.\tDirty Diana
\n9.\tIn the End
\n10.\tIn Chains
\n11.\tSilent Voice<\/p>\n

Record Label: Mascot Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.shamansharvest.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matt Karpe – Senior Columnist — Shaman\u2019s Harvest\u2019s fifth studio album, their first since 2009, finds the band ready to cement their position amongst the best in the U.S. hard rock scene. Smokin\u2019 Hearts\u2026 […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":45384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,10067,1103,2946,10065,10066,3798],"class_list":{"0":"post-45382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-country-rock","10":"tag-hard-rock","11":"tag-mascot-records","12":"tag-shamans-harvest","13":"tag-smokin-hearts-broken-guns","14":"tag-southern-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}