Broken Hand Charity

Democrusade EP

Written by: PP on 28/01/2013 22:43:37

Denmark doesn't have too many bands in the quintessentially Billboard Modern Rock style (think Creed, etc), but Broken Hand Charity are one of them. They impressed me on their debut EP "Simplified Symphony" by avoiding the cocky/arrogant attitude that most bands playing this style possess, and focused on writing great melodies instead delivered with a down-to-earth attitude. This approach continues on their sophomore EP "Democrusade", where the band have evolved as songwriters and are on a similar path artistically as Alter Bridge went through.

"Simplified Symphony" was good, but like its title suggests, it was a rather simple album strictly stylistically speaking. "Democrusade" provides evidence for the band's evolution as songwriters and musicians, because not only are the riffs more interesting and challenging in their nature, the overall soundscape has taken more progressive elements and a sense of grandeur that simply didn't exist on the previous EP. It's both heavier and more ambitious in its nature. At the same time, the band haven't abandoned their standard radio-friendly alternative rock style, where especially their post-grunge style vocalist should be credited for delivering catchy choruses and a convincing expression overall. He doesn't sound Danish at all, which is extremely beneficial considering the band are essentially interpreting the archetypical Americanized radio rock formula to their advantage. Any hipsterism or a rawer style simply wouldn't do this record any justice.

That being said, "Democrusade" isn't for everyone. Just the fact that there are ideas present here that reference Creed will put some people off, but then again, if you can appreciate the progression those guys took on Alter Bridge afterwards, there are plenty of good things to discover on this EP as well. I guess what I want you to take away from this EP is that it doesn't sound as formulaic as many bands tend to do in this genre. Much like Alter Bridge, their interpretation of the classic modern rock sound is more ambitious than that.

7

Download: When You Fear, For Religion
For the fans of: Creed, Silence Of September, Alter Bridge
Listen: Facebook

Release date Summer 2012
Self-Released

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.