Saint Rebel

The Battle Of Sinners & Saints

Written by: PP on 13/03/2012 22:49:39

Denmark's Saint Rebel used to be called KoLeN' back in the day. They were hugely successful for an unsigned band, reaching the Emergenza Festival finals, winning the MTV Nordic Unsigned competition, as well as the audience award cash prize at the melody maker contest towards recording an album. They changed their name to Saint Rebel back in 2009, and have spent the last three years writing their debut album "The Battle Of Sinners & Saints", which could just as well be called "The Battle Of Audioslave & Velvet Revolver".

Like their local colleagues in Powderhog, they find every penny of their inspiration in the American modern radio rock bands from around a decade ago, when post-grunge and grungy hard rock were the genres to be in if you wanted to earn big bucks fast. Fortunately, like their idols in Audioslave and Velvet Revolver, Saint Rebel's expression isn't quite so shallow, largely thanks to their brilliant vocalist, who has some of the best 'made for hard rock' pipes I've heard in recent years. Fuck me, this guy could easily be fronting any of those millionaire bands from overseas who still, against all logic and reason, sell upwards of one hundred thousand records every time they release a new record of the same, recycled post-grunge / hard rock garbage.

His melodies are easily comparable to the average decent band from the US scene, but especially those on "Once We Were Two", "I'd Rather Be A Narcissist" are even better than that. Then there's the rowdy rock'n'roll piece "Earthquake Shakes Me", which may be the best representative of the swagger and attitude driven expression that makes Saint Rebel tracks good. Nods towards Jane's Addiction and Alice In Chains are given occasionally as well, though these are only done in passing because the grunge element is in the minority here compared to the big time hard rock soundscapes much like those by Pretty Maids (or even Guns 'N' Roses in places).

But after listening to "The Battle Of Sinners & Saints" for more than its fair share of times, one key question remains unanswered: are Saint Rebel still relevant in the musical landscape of 2012? The Danish rock'n'roll fans seem to think so, but do they have a future outside of Denmark? After all, they'll almost certainly be judged as another dime-a-dozen post-grunge band by the foreign media, even if their songs are often better than that.

7

Download: Once We Were Two, I'd Rather Be A Narcissist, Earthquake Shakes Me Down
For the fans of: Audioslave, Powderhog, Velvet Revolver, Pretty Maids
Listen: Facebook

Release date 05.03.2011
Mighty Music / Target

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