Release
date: June 16th 2017. Label: Salt Of The Earth Records. Format: CD/DD
The
Depths Below – Tracklisting
1. All Gone Wrong
2. Poor And Devoid
3. Walk Through Fire
4. The Citadel
5. Blood Of Heirs
6. To The Skies
7. Kill Your Ghosts
8. Dead Channel
9. Orison
Band
Members:
Matt - Vocals
Scott - Guitar
Alasdair - Guitar
Jay - Bass
Alexei - Drums
Review
Greetings all,
Had
the privilege of checking out the amazing new album from Boston based
stoner/grunge band Cortez entitled
The Depths Below.
I understand the term "grunge" can make some get that
prickly feeling inside, but I use it with the utmost of love and
respect. As a guy turning 40 (good lord....) this summer, I grew up
musically in the midst of the grunge explosion. If you do the math I
was 14 years old when Nevermind came out.
But I digress, to the band
at hand. This Cortez
album is a definite rock monster. The band wears their musical hearts
on their sleeves and do absolute justice to the influences you hear
in all of the songs. You can hear elements of certain bands in just
about every song, but Cortez manages to have a sound all their own.
Goddamit
if their isnt an almost John Garcia/Kyuss like "Well alright"
that kicks off the album opener All Gone
Wrong. This track rips with a definite
desert/stoner rock vibe. Poor and Devoid
follows with a bit more of the grunge
based influence. There are times when it sound musically, like the
more rocking moments of Alice In Chains. The next three songs are
part of a sort of musical trilogy called In the Shadows of Ancients.
The
first is the song Walk Through Fire which
features a killer driving chorus. The second part is the excellent
The Citadel which
shows the band slowing it down a bit in the intro and features some
flourishes of acoustic guitar before closing with a big rocking
outro. The trilogy closes with Blood of
Heirs, which has a more old school metal
feel. I may be wrong, but I swear I felt a bit of Motorhead in this
one.
To
the Skies is a rocker that has just a
touch of Doom to it. That feeling gets revisited a bit later on. Next
is Kill Your Ghosts
which has a somewhat post grunge/90's modern rock feel due to the
tempo before it takes a turn to stoner rock. Dead
Channel carries on the mix of stoner rock
and grunge with a killer chorus on this monster. The record closes
with Orison which
is an amazing Doom-grunge combination. Kind of a first to me, but I
dig it.
The
Depths Below is
a mighty record. Whatever genre of rock you dig, you shouldnt have an
issue getting down with Cortez.
The songs are tight. It is well recorded and rocking. The vocals are
excellent throughout. Their is plenty of driving guitars and killer
solos. Rock fans will not be disappointed. Get down with Cortez!!
- Todd S
Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou
Words
by Todd Stealey
Thanks
to Cortez for the promo. The Depths Below is available to buy from
Salt Of The Earth Records now.
Links:
