Artist: Filharmonix
Album: Hot & Heavy
Label: Independent
Mastered at: L R Studio
Release Date: 18th July, 2012
Everyone loves dumping on the eighties. Especially its rock: to be fair it is quite easy to – the old guard from the 70’s was fast descending down a spiral of “big whoop” while they desperately tried to cling on to their heyday glory with technical skill and thirty minute solos while the new guard – punk – declared themselves with swagger but little grunt to carry them far. Then there was the biggest culprit of all – glam metal. Much to the chagrin of metalheads everywhere, metal suddenly became party music, became nightlife music, and worst of all, became mainstream music. And if that wasn’t bad enough – out of the glam woodworks came the rock ballad: sappy songs that took record sales through the roof. But while Whitesnake’s greatest legacy might be “Is This Love” (ughh), they still kicked major ass – a point reinforced while listening to songs like “In the Still of the Night” or “Judgement Day”.
And Filharmonix, with their debut album Hot & High, seem to aim to remind us of just that. As you look at the album cover and hear the singer wail “heavy metal cowboys …riding horses made of steel” you realize that in spite of the bad rap glam gets……. it is fun. The band does seem to have a good formula – Whitesnake, Guns N Roses and even a bit of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden thrown into the mix for good measure. And god knows that today, with the overbearing thrust on djent, technical grindcore, progressive and even doom metal, we need a band to lighten the mood a little and allow us to let our hair down (figuratively in my case). And although we want them to be, Fillharmonix falls just short of being that band.
The album does start off quite well with the aforementioned “Heavy Metal Cowboys” and does manage to keep the fun quotient going through the 8 tracks. The songs themselves follow the tried and tested formula of Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Solo1-Solo2-Chorus and while that doesn’t allow for any surprises on the album, there’s nothing wrong with it. Of the material, the two slower songs, No No and Anaa Inside, are probably weaker than the rest of the tracks and you’ll probably find yourself reaching for the skip button there.
The band themselves are a capable bunch – they play their instruments well throughout the album and they do sound tight, but only just about. There are several points on the album where it becomes apparent that the members aren’t necessarily listening to what the other is playing and things don’t quite fit well (a little something for the drummer and bassist to think about). The guitar solos as well probably need more work in terms of composition seeing as they are intended to be one of the highlights of the album. There are several catchy hooks and riffs through the album, but none memorable enough to warrant repeated listens. I have no doubt that the material plays really well live with its sing-along choruses, crowd-pleasing riffs and upbeat vibe but recording and putting out an album is a whole different ball game.
The big question: should you get it. On a scale of “Hell Yes” to “For the love of God No”, I’d go for a “why not” – it is cheap (if the price mentioned on the cover is anything to go by) and it is fun – like a plate of momos in a Jorhat marketplace. Did I mention these guys are from Jorhat? Funny how that worked out…..
Fillharmonix are:
KK – Guitars
Anurag – Guitars
Ved – Bass
Purab A – Vocals
Sami – Drums
