ALBUM REVIEW: BALEFUL CREED Give You “The Lowdown”
Heavy rockers from Northern Ireland, Baleful Creed have followed up their superb 2017 album “Seismic Shifter” with 10 song strong 2020 album “The Lowdown”.
So has there been a big seismic shift from their last album? Does it live up to their previous offerings?
A simple answer is a resounding yes! “The Lowdown” is definitely an album that reflects their sound and style, it has a style that has no borders, as well as being slick, polished and professional. This album cements Baleful Creed solidly in the heavy rock category.
Baleful Creed begin by cooking up some fantastic grungy doom riffage by taking a slice of “Let There Be Rock” and a pinch of “Rock You Like A Hurricane” mixed into a big stoner bowl of hard rock and produce a stunning first track with “Mr Grim”. Yes, your ears may pick up a few familiar refrains but the secret Baleful Creed recipe makes it clearly its own sound.
“The Phoenix” produces some seriously heavy riffage that has a hint of Sabbath but soars into the sky under its own power of metal. The drums drive the rhythm, the bass is full fat, none of this semi skimmed stuff, the guitars rev and Fin Finlay’s vocals blend wonderfully.
Then comes “Pilot My Head” lands home another delivery of another slice of heavy rock with that powerful grungy stoner taste. It has a real catchy style that has a slight sprinkle of The Offspring about it and is bound to be a definitely fan favourite to sing along to.
Fast and furious, “Riled Up” chugs in with pure aggression and does not let up throughout the tune. This is heavy hard rock boogie that just delivers a stomping head banging tune.
With a title like “Tramalamapam” you know you are in for a bit of a trippy tune, and Baleful Creed do not disappoint. This is a definite stoner track that will please any Sabbath fans, but they will have in Baleful style. You will stick this track on repeat.
Then comes a real boogie blues track with “Confused”, whilst still retaining that heavy vibe that is a signature of Baleful Creed. It swings from heavy blues to grunge/sludge through to stoner all with that Hammond warbling in the background.
“One Shot” is a story track with an evocative movie intro before it chugs into a very vocally focussed tune. Again it has all the trademark hallmarks of Baleful Creed fans have long loved. It is slower but just as catchy as the previous songs and will be another firm fan favourite.
“End Game” slams in immediately with full on fat riffage that will just make you want to headbang the night away. The rhythm throughout just chugs along aptly complimented with Fin’s raspy vocal style. It’s a real mixture of stoner and the blues, as you can hear the piano in the background giving it that extra little bit of blues funk. There is a real catchiness about the tune that invites you to play it a few more times before you move on.
Then comes the unexpected, a ballad, with “Line of Trouble”. Yet, stylistically it fits in perfectly as its emotionally laden sound and vocals feel, in a way, like they took one of their stoner songs and just slowed it down. And it works beautifully. The melody, rhythm, riffs and vocals come together with a real classic Black Sabbath undertone that is satisfyingly pure Baleful Creed. Its heavy, really heavy in tone, sound, speed and delivery.
Finally comes the last song of the album, “Southgate Of Heaven” which picks up the pace again with a bit of stoner blues rock, a full on bass chugging, riff infested piece that leaves you with a satisfying taste in your mouth.
Baleful Creed have delivered an album of 10 songs in around 40 minutes that is a classic “I’ll put it on repeat” piece of rock. An honest raw and pure classic that should put this band on a higher footing, and on a wider base than stoner fans. The interesting mixture of different genres, with a light touch infuse the album with a real familiarity that makes it so easy to connect with. They have taken stoner rock back to its roots, saturating the sound with old style blues, that is just reachable in the sound and rhythm. Yet with taking it back to the blues they also polish it off with a timeless style.
Whether you are a stoner grunge or blues fan, it doesn’t matter. This is an album you must get. Its that one album that everyone has that you get which is one of your favourites, but not necessarily an exemplar of your favourite genre.
