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Patriot Rebel: Cynics Playground (EP)

Hard/Heavy Rock

3.0/5.0

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Unsigned / Self-released
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 01.06.2016

On the strength of the well-received Two Worlds (2013) and some significant touring, opening for notable bands like Y&T, Tesseract, The Treatment, and Jettblack, Patriot Rebel returns with a second EP, Cynics Playground.

Patriot Rebel

Having not hear that previous album, I have fortune of not knowing what to expect of Patriot Rebel. From a spin or two, a few things came to the forefront. One is that Patriot Rebel sound is built upon thick riffage and a heavy bottom end, in the post-grunge d-tuned sense. It's a sound somewhere between thundering and explosive. Yet, to their credit they do it with out forsaking melody and groove. Next, I noticed that Paul Smith's vocals seemed muted, more like clobbered down under the music. He already has this somewhat annoying nasal whine to his voice which makes him kind of heard to understand. But getting hammered by the music in the mix and mastering isn't helping him either. Even within the leaner less heavy Dying Breed, he doesn't get a break. Finally, for a modern alt rock band Patriot Rebel goes old school and gives you some decent guitar solo. But with the riffage and rhythm section pounding about, you might miss them.

So those are my observations. As for some conclusion? Honestly. There's nothing really memorable about this album. Nothing really hooked me or drew me in. There was nothing that made me want to listen to the album again after writing this review. However, that means little to their fans. If they liked the first EP, they'll probably dig this one too. Candor can be a bitch.

Patriot Rebel - Self Hate

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Honestly, for Patriot Rebel's Cynics Playground, there was nothing really memorable about. Nothing really hooked me, drew me in. There was nothing that made me want to listen to the album again after writing this review. Candor can be a bitch.

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Formed in 1999 by singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Erik Martensson, Sweden's Eclipse is well into their third decade of making music. In the recent past, their recordings and reputation have ... [ Read More ]