Album Review: SpiralArms - Freedom

The American Hard Rockers «Spiral Arms«, the stoner rock band around guitarist Craig Locicero, signed a worldwide contract in the summer of 2013 and now their second studio album entitled «Freedom» will be released in October. Many a European rock fan may not know «SpiralArms» yet, but this will change very soon! Because the American sextet is the epitome of a classy rock group that mixes tradition with modernity and fires off a real firework of fabulous rock songs on their second album Freedom. «Freedom» has everything that today's fans love: powerful guitar riffs, gripping hooks, vocals that will pierce your bones and grooves that will make every muscle in your body tremble.

Tim Narducci and Craig Locicero have been close friends since they were 15 and are ardent fans of heavy metal and hard rock. Looking back, they were probably "the youngest of the metal scene on the American East Coast, who hung out in the park and drank beer after attending Testament and Exodus concerts," Locicero recalls. Without losing the friendly contact to each other, their paths separated and led them to different bands. Years later, after great success and important experiences with their own formations, Locicero and Narducci decided to found a group together and to launch «SpiralArms» in 2004. After a few personnel changes, a solid line-up crystallized over time, which today consists of Chris ‹Cornbread› Lombardo (bass/vocals, formerly Vicious Rumors), Brad Barth (keyboards), Anthony Traslavina (guitar) and Ron Reeden ( drums, ex-essenness).

From my point of view, music is always best when you can tell that there are no calculating, financial interests behind it, but solely the love of music. In this day and age, it is only in very few cases that you can actually earn enough money to live on it. But that doesn't deter real musicians because they do it for the love of music. A sextet whose devotion is immediately apparent is «SpiralArms», and at least one of them has had a taste of success in the music business: guitarist Craig Locicero has been part of the Bay Area thrash veterans «Forbidden» for years. But «SpiralArms» have absolutely nothing in common with this kind of music. The music couldn't be more different, especially since «SpiralArms» have absolutely nothing to do with thrash. You can hear the influence of the great 70s heroes like "Black Sabbath" or "Led Zeppelin", but you can also see very clear parallels to "Alice in Chains" or the early "Stone Temple Pilots".

After two demos between 2004 and 2007, their debut album "Highest Society" was released in 2010, with which "SpiralArms" were able to do more than just set scent marks and draw the attention of record labels all over the world. "The disc was created over a longer period of time, which is why it may not sound quite as compact and homogeneous as our new album Freedom," explains Narducci, who also produced the current songs. «Compared to our debut, Freedom is on the one hand simpler and more focused on the essentials, on the other hand even more consistently based on our own musical role models á la Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. It also has a bluesy, raw and very vital orientation.» In fact, SpiralArms have continued to mature over the past three years. "We've developed noticeably," confirms Locicero, "you can hear that all the band members are exceptionally good instrumentalists and are even more relaxed and cooler than before. As a young musician you're still a little unsure, but now we're all very self-confident and absolutely certain of our cause. We write songs that we only have to please ourselves at first. It's always an amazing experience that the songs that work best are those that you actually wrote for yourself."

And «SpiralArms» clearly take this influence into account in their sound, in which they have a keyboardist in the band. This always provides surprising musical detours, such as directly in the opener «Dropping Like Flies», when he simply drives his piano into the parade of the guitar wall and heralds a surprising break. It's simply brilliant in this form and enriches the song immensely. He manages a similar feat with «Exit 63», which without the keyboard would probably be a bit less spectacular, but in this form it's just terrific. The sound is nevertheless dominated by the two guitarists, the extremely deep-sounding yet slightly swinging bass and the immensely grooving drums. The last two elements in particular connect the sound of the "SpiralArms" with that of "Black Sabbath", because Geezer Butler's bass lines and Bill Ward's playing were of fundamental importance for the success of the British. And also with the American sextet, the contributions of Chris Lombardo and Ron Reeden form the foundation on which the other musicians let off steam - and with absolutely audible - lust and mood.

SpiralArms - Dropping Like Flies (Official)

Also worth mentioning is the very earthy and lively production of «Freedom». The album exudes a vibrancy that many other groups lose in the studio. "We always work as a full band in the studio," explains Locicero. "The basic tracks on the new disc were recorded in just 16 hours, the rest came about little by little, but always in the same spirit. Right from the start we never lost sight of the special flair of the new songs and our vision.» Overall, it's surprising how authentically the band manages to transport the original, fresh and extremely rough charm of the early phase of hard rock and heavy metal into the modern age on their second album, without sounding antiquated. The grandiose opener of this CD is not the only strong track on the album, but rather the prelude to a musical journey into the diverse, colorful sound world of hard rock. The talk boxes used here do not sound cheap or embarrassing, and the attitude is not forced. Here they rock with all their hearts, without looking at sales figures and without packing a standard ballad for the radio. But it is precisely this approach, the renunciation of the formulaic, the courage and the desire for pure rocking that are the trump cards of the successful album.

«Freedom» conjures up the spirit of pure, hard rock and delights from the first note to the last. Also to be mentioned positively is the technically outstanding implementation, the groovy interplay and the authentic production, which breathes wonderful southern flair. "Freedom" will go its own way, that much is already certain, especially since "SpiralArms" want to tour our latitudes as soon as possible: "We hope to come to Europe by next spring at the latest. We have not forgotten the positive reactions to our performance at Graspop 2007, when we were the only unsigned band at the festival, and we can't wait to play in Europe again."

Tracklist:

1. Dropping Like Flies
2. Hold Me To The Sky
3. Exit 63
4. Black Moon Morning
5. Drugs & Alcohol
6. Dealer
7. Lover's Leap
8. Tomorrow's Dream
9. Freedom

Bonus track

10. I lay low

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