SIDE EFFECTS – Descending Rabbit Holes

  • 7.5/10
    SIDE EFFECTS - Descending Rabbit Holes - 7.5/10
7.5/10

Summary

Rockshot Records
Release date: September 28, 2018

Sending
User Review
0/10 (0 votes)

“Don’t Contradict The Facts” is the big hook-y opener kicking off the latest Side Effects album Descending Rabbit Holes, their fourth and first since 2012’s Counterclockwise. Hailing from Zagreb, Croatia, the madly talented duo (hoping to be a trio; they are on the hunt for a new bass player) of Ivan Mihaljevi on vocals, bass, and guitar, and Alen Frljak on drums, set down a brash melodic groove on the lead cut and follow-up “In The Shadow Of A Crumbled Fort”, the first video-supported single from the album.

Having some sonic similarities to the Californian band Incubus, Descending Rabbit Holes offers an eclectic collection of eleven songs of varying tempos and mostly upbeat grooves. Ivan cuts loose with a couple frenetic bass solos on “Diversions”, and displays his chops as both a riff-meister and a soloist on “The Siren Song”. He has a voice that allows him to handle quieter material as well as the harder rocking tunes; sometimes within the same song as he does on “The Siren Song”, which has an acoustically driven campfire chorus set in between the pyrotechnics. “Hideout” is the album’s pure ballad, where Ivan layers a haunting, neo-psychedelic figure atop layered acoustic guitars and the steady Skiffle beat laid down by Alen in one of the most successful tunes on the album. “Obituary Of Common Sense” begins with a similar lulling intro before launching into a jagged guitar assault in one of the album’s darker cuts.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

Author

  • Daniel Waters

    Daniel was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio. Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind wasn’t the first Metal album he owned, but it was the one that lifted the lid off his soul when he received the record as a gift on his 15th birthday. He's been a Metal fan ever since. He's probably best known as the author of various Young Adult novels such as the Generation Dead series and the ghost story Break My Heart 1,000 Times, now also a major motion picture entitled I Still See You, starring Bella Thorne. Writing and music, especially Heavy Metal music, has always been inextricably linked in his mind and career. His first paid gig doing any type of writing was for Cemetery Dance, where he wrote a horror-themed music column called Dead Beats, and when he was writing the first Generation Dead novel he had a ritual where he started his writing day with a Metal playlist that kicked off with “Crushing Belial” by Shadows Fall.

    View all posts

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.