ALBUM REVIEW: Greybeards Are Perfect For The Wilder Minds

15th August 2018 admin

Greybeards have recently released their album “For The Wilder Minds” through Attitude Recordings, and what an album it is too.

First up is “Fast Asleep” with a great layered introduction giving a great rocking vibe all the way. Then in kicks Olle’s vocals. Wow. They are incredible, distinct and sounding like Olle is the metal love child of Blackie Lawless and Justin Hawkins. This is a great rock and roll track with the guitar solos having a distinctly 60’s rock and roll sound to them that just fits right in. It’s like Ingemar is channelling Chuck Berry. The bass has a wonderful earthy sound and is just audible enough for you to notice when Simon has a wee runabout on it. As the track draws to an end they all just go mental as if playing live building faster and faster but still keeping the tune corralled. The whole track just seems perfectly balanced all round and is a great start to the album.

Next is “One in a Billion” starts with a nice light groove before it unapologetically smashes into gear. This is Olle channelling pure Blackie Lawless as he swings up and down with classic WASP rhythm. It is wonderfully surprising and a real diamond of a tune. Hard rocking, metal, and melodic, and throughout the vocals are tunefully raspy. Brilliant.

“Come Undone” has a dystopic beginning with a background tune being laid down below the vocals until once again the tune kicks into its full power. This is a real chugging riff laden track. Again whilst professionally polished it retains a rawness that is infectious. Once again the comparisons are there to early WASP – and this is no detraction – very reminiscent of the likes of “Wild Child”, “I Don’t Need No Doctor”, and “I wanna be somebody”.

“Insane” has an incredible infectious rhythm with a rock and roll chugging all the way through. It is just a great tune with a solid headbanging feel to it.

Then you have “Beautiful Things”, with a real Green Day alt rock feel about it and shows off how Olle can really change his vocals up. A real feel good track that it is very easy to put on to repeat.

Up next is “Free” with a fast fast paced beat combined with guitars and base that confusingly sounds like “Lump” mixed with “Helter Skelter”, but in a good way before it really settles into its very own unique sound a solid rock tune. Again Olle’s vocals just stand out and the range between verse and chorus is perfectly done. This is a seriously impressive and addictive track.

“You Struck Me” has a beautiful gentle starter before going into an almost Morrisey style which may kind of throw you a bit, but it is a rockier version. This could almost be said to be a ballad but not quite. Thoroughly enjoyable.

And then you have a “Cold December” which just has such an 80s rock vibe, but with an update for 2018. Once more Greybeards deliver the goods with a solidly beautiful piece of musical composition. It has such a theatrical ambiance with a contagious chorus. Brilliant.

Then the penultimate track, “Peace Of Mind”, is a pure ballad that really stands out with an almost folksy feel. It feels like it has powerful emotions just ready to burst out in a flood but is controlled in its restraint. The strings accompanying the song are beautiful in an ephemerally mournful way. It is a very easy listening well constructed piece with a slow tuneful meandering.

The final track is “The Nerve”, and boy does it finish off the album perfectly with pure modern rock riffs, chugging rhythms, clean clear vocals filled with controlled aggression in between. This could be the most ‘mainstream’ of all the songs but the Greybeards definitely put their stamp on it so there is no mistaking it for anything else.

Overall, “For The Wilder Minds” is a perfect rocking album that is so well produced you can hear every instrument and the vocals are so distinct they make your ears perk up and listen really hard. This is melodic rock in the style of the Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, and alt rock in general. But they aren’t. They seem to have a style all of their own and Olle has a very impressive vocal delivery.

Every track on this album is crammed with atmospheric rocking riffs, powerful vocals, melodic grooves, catchy and infectious choruses, pop infused vibes and without a doubt full of tracks that will be played over and over and over again. One thing is that each song sounds as if they are perfectly suited to being played as stadium anthems in front of 10,000 plus people. This is an absolutely superb album.

This is an album you must have in your collection.

Greybeards new album ‘For The Wilder Minds’ is out now via Attitude Recordings. It was recorded at Studio Sound Society and Sound Control Swede, in Gävle, Sweden, and was produced by Chips Kiesby (The Hellacopters, Crucified Barbara, Bonafide) and co-produced by Regina Wallmark. The strings on ‘Peace of Mind’ was recorded at and produced by Maria Grönlund at Studio Strings.