{"id":48323,"date":"2015-02-19T20:24:22","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T01:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=48323"},"modified":"2015-02-21T09:54:40","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T14:54:40","slug":"twelve-gauge-all-in-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/twelve-gauge-all-in-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Gauge | All In<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TwelveThe vast number of new Rock\/Metal bands and promising debut albums emerging one after another these days prompts the question \u2013 is it a long-awaited rock revival we are to witness? And assuming more than a half of those bands base their output mainly on mimicking the \u201870s or the \u201880s music patterns, can we talk about such a revival at all \u2013 or is it just re-appropriating the same scheme over and over again? Because of such status quo, the young bands which try to define themselves without looking back and which remain in touch with the aesthetics of the modern era rather than the so-called \u2018retromania\u2019 are twice as valuable in the music scene. One of such is 12 Gauge, the British Rock\/Metal outfit founded in 2012. And even though the quintet cites the likes of Aerosmith, The Cult or Lynyrd Skynyrd as their influences alongside Velvet Revolver and Alter Bridge, it\u2019s the latter two groups that their debut album All In<\/em> can be compared to music-wise.<\/p>\n

All<\/em> In starts with a bang\u2026 literally! The sound of the opening track \u201cSins Of The Flesh\u201d is thick and heavy, fueled by the twin attack of low, distorted guitars and the monstrous pounding groove produced by the rhythm section. All this is complemented with aggressive, searing vocals. A dark and moody piece, it precedes the raw, unpolished metal outburst of \u201cTouch Me\u201d garnished with a lengthy, nifty guitar solo. Based on the distinct drum line, \u201cTomorrow Comes Your Way\u201d is as heavy and dense as its predecessors, dominated by the choruses embroidered with rough vocal harmonies. The classically-infused, piano-laden intro to \u201cTake Me Back\u201d sounds as if the fourth track on the album was going to be ballad-esque and dreamy. However, the song\u2019s first rapid volte-face is just one of many shifts in sound intensity and strength throughout its entirety. Heavy gunshot riffs remain heavily contrasted with an underlying ballad-ish melody, adding even more to the variety of the recorded material. <\/p>\n

\u201cHell To The Morning\u201d is the aggressive group chant against the background of gritty guitar riffs, preceding the heavy, melodic groove of guitar-laden track number six \u2013 \u201cLose Control.\u201d With \u201cFrom The Ashes,\u201d Twelve Gauge combine the ballad-esque aesthetics with the \u2018wall of sound\u2019 effect so typical to the modern metal scene. Its biggest asset is rich lead guitar work that resonates throughout the entire track in melancholic, wistful manner \u2013 reaching the climax in the blistering solo. Apart from that, it features particularly outstanding performance from the band\u2019s lead singer J. Michael Ward. A very good song overall, and one of the album\u2019s incontestable highlights. <\/p>\n

The acoustic flavor of another modern rock ballad on the album \u2013 \u201cLittle Things\u201d \u2013 reaches back as far as to Blues and Country music tradition, showing yet another dimension to the band\u2019s influences. Its follow-up \u201cAll My Lovin,\u201d in spite of remaining still within the realm of contemporary Rock\/Metal genre, has the feisty, Blues-infused vibe to it. The same flavors are to be heard throughout Skynyrd-ish quasi-ballad \u201cRollin,\u201d while the album finishes on a high but certainly rockin\u2019 note of heavy, brooding \u201cFailed Star.\u201d <\/p>\n

A resultant of many varied influences, very modern in terms of sound and style, but not entirely detached from Rock\/Metal tradition \u2013 12 Gauge\u2019s debut album is an interesting one. Having maintained a proper balance between heaviness and melody in their music, the British quintet supply it with quality songwriting and very decent performance. And even though All In may not be convincing enough for some of the conservative Classic Rock-oriented listeners, 12 Gauge\u2019s approach that favors the modern over the old and dusty is more of an asset than a drawback in the repetitive and nostalgia-driven world of rock music. Recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock, Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nIan ‘Jonno’ Johnson – Guitar
\nLew Hornby – Guitar
\nJ Michael Ward – Vocals
\nGraham ‘Gee’ Bennett – Drums
\nAndy Waite – Bass Guitar<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. Sins Of The Flesh
\n2. Touch Me
\n3. Tomorrow Comes Your Way
\n4. Take Me Back
\n5. Hell To The Morning
\n6. Lose Control
\n7. From The Ashes
\n8. Little Things
\n9. All My Lovin’
\n10. Rollin’
\n11. Failed Star<\/p>\n

Website: www.twelvegauge.co.uk<\/a> – www.facebook.com\/TwelveGaugeUK\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — The vast number of new Rock\/Metal bands and promising debut albums emerging one after another these days prompts the question \u2013 is it a long-awaited rock revival we […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":48324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[10820,10805,2317,1103,2267,10804],"class_list":{"0":"post-48323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-12-gauge","9":"tag-all-in","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-hard-rock","12":"tag-metal","13":"tag-twelve-gauge"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48323","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=48323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}