A Bludgeoning Onslaught Of Uncontainable Energy
In a world where music has become slightly throw away, where bands can emerge over night through myspace only to vanish the next, its refreshing to know that for some, the idea of forming a band properly is not merely a forgotten legend of a bygone age. Blyth’s Forgotten Roots aren’t after overnight glory that diminishes within a blink of an eye; these guys are in it for the long haul. Even the forming of the band hasn’t been a flippant process taking almost four years to find the magical line up that clicked, and now, with the positions of bass player and drummer firmly established, Forgotten Roots are finally ready to let the music world in with their EP, ‘Crosses And Circles’, a lively burst of infectious energy that grips with melodic twists wrapped sweetly around their aggressive ferocity. The British music scene is certainly alive and kicking beyond the realms of myspace.
Like the initial tune up of instruments before a live gig erupts, ‘Crosses And Circles’ steadily opens with a 19 second wave of guitars and drums before Forgotten Roots make their vibrant and vigorous entrance. Brash, bold and with an underlying rush of brutality, ‘Cut It Out’ firmly establishes the quartet’s sound, bombarding with vigorously eager riffs that whirl alongside contagious lyrics that are begging for a crowd to explode with enthusiasm . On the surface things may seem chirpy, a fun party atmosphere propels the band’s energetic ethos but scratch the surface ever so slightly and angry wounds open, rage and disappointment over failed relationships and the exes that have treated them wrong flay alongside everyday grievances that staple the band’s hearts firmly on the sleeve of each member making ‘Crosses and Circles’ an impressive force of fun drenched anger peppered with a melodic underbelly to draw all in.
The brilliantly infectious ‘Bats’ only serves to display further the brilliance and potential of Forgotten Roots. With a touch of Rise Against, ‘Bats’ unleashes stabbing riffs that pierce their way to the forefront alongside crushing drum beats to reveal a viscously arresting avalanche of hooks destined to ensnare without mercy before ‘403-405’ bounces in to finish the job. A bludgeoning onslaught of uncontainable energy, ‘Too Much’ is a tornado of raging riffs superbly crashing against catchy lyrics that results in burst of crazed dance inducing fun before ‘Memories’ makes its entrance soundly like the skate punk love child of early Blink 182 and Green Day; unapologetic adrenaline draining, angry fun. Forget about any respite though, this may be an EP/min album but Forgotten Roots aren’t finished with us as the weirdly titled ‘It’s Not A Horse, It’s A Zebra’ offloads one last assault of vibrant melodic vitality packing an aggression pumped kick to guarantee Forgotten Roots won’t vanish from your mind anytime soon.