Slow Roosevelt - Weightless Review
Don't judge a book by its cover and from the unassuming cover appearance of Texan rockers Slow Roosevelt on new album 'Weightless' you would expect something pretty tame. That is until vocalist Pete Thomas lets rip and escorts you into a hard rocking world that has more than a little metal to it.
The gravely guttural roars of the vocals are matched by some heavy hook laden guitar riffs that descend into a classic Machine Head style metal with tracks like 'Silverback'. They also reflect the more extreme edge of the rock spectrum in other songs like 'Comfort From a Bomb' a song with Deftones style inflections that sound like a cross of their 'Adrenaline' guitar heaviness with the less hip-hop more intense vocals of 'Deftones'. Add an In Flames heavy yet danceable sound with 'From Laughing Comes Crying' and you have an album that should appeal to a wide crowd. It has that 'something' which shouldn't alienate those who tend to think of metal as senseless grunting into a mike and should also appeal to metal fans who love that same senseless grunting.
Melodic metal currently has a massive following and with acts like Trivium ripping up the scene Slo Ro could easily find an attentive British audience. The aggressive and yet not overwhelming style combined with a real hardcore outlook that never loses sight of the melody behind each song is perfectly balanced and creates an album of perfect unity in sound with songs that all stand out on their own. The non-stop intensity of each track shows a band who utterly believes in the music they're making and are going to do their best to convince you of their way.
'Weightless' is like a punch in the face, you really don't see it coming and afterwards you're definitely going to remember the name Slow Roosevelt and the music they make.