Artful Renegade ::: Life and Death
Life and Death opens with the promising “Man On Earth” it encompasses a relaxed, chilled out vibe with some great screeching guitars. Although the vocal is powerful it becomes a bit tiresome as the track carries on. The verses are a tad too dragged out, however, the original promise of the track is reclaimed in the soaring chorus.

Second track, “We Own The Night” opens with some deep bass and when the guitar and backing vocals kick in it really gives the song a terrific flare. At this stage I’m getting the feeling that the singer’s voice has a bit of a marmite air about it. However, like with the sticky brown stuff, I for one cant decide if I love it or hate it. The song has a timeless quality about it, settling somewhere in between classic and modern rock.

By the time “The Greatest” kicks in I realise what I’ve been finding so familiar about the vocal, it sounds very like Bono which isn’t necessarily a good thing. The music takes a dramatic turn just after the 3 minute mark which I feel is too late, the track would have lost the listeners attention by then. What is made clear by now though is that the guitarists in Artful Renegade have undeniable musical talent.

“Crawling Angel” boasts another promising start although by the time the long intro finishes and the vocal kicks in the song is verging on boring. By this point I’m losing interest in the EP with the tracks all seeming to merge into one.

I’m sitting on a train while listening to this EP and it’s never a good sign when the endless stretches of bleak fields become more interesting than the music.

As the last track “Hurricane” kicks in I have decided that I don’t love the singer’s marmite voice. The vocal arrangement in the pre-chorus just doesn’t work, it makes no sense to me and it doesn’t sound in keeping with the rest of the song. But again the track showcases great musical ability.

Over all I found Life and Death frustrating because this band no doubt has heaps of potential. Perhaps if they didn’t over milk the songs (most of which are over 5 minutes) the EP would have stood out more.

Review by Maria Molloy