Christian Martucci, a name I wasn’t familiar with (other than playing in Stone Sour).  I recently discovered that he was the new guitarist in one of my fav bands the Black Star Riders. So I was excited to find out that he has a solo ep out titled ‘Negative Balance’.                                                                

Now anyone who knows me knows I love loud guitars with a punk edge and boy does the first track of this storming E.P. not just tick those boxes but blasts them wide open with the track ‘Black Dust’.   ‘Black Dust’ kicks us off with a hardcore sounding guitar riff but also with a melodic edge. Christian’s vocal is also impressive with plenty of melody and power in evidence.

Next up is the glorious ‘Printers Devil’ and the pace does not let up and this track bounces along with great intensity the running order is well-chosen as ‘Sounds and Silence’  has a slightly slower pace but plenty of melody in both the riff and Christian’s vocal. Yet again it’s very impressive.

‘Nothing In The Dark’ is a number with a great personal lyric and just oozes class but then you’d expect that from Acey Slade, Karl Rockfist and Christian Martucci.  ‘Bad Ghosts’ is up next and this track mixes acoustic and electric guitars with a great bouncy sing-along riff that will have you humming the tune and tapping your feet immediately and yet again I love the great lyrics.

‘Give Me Fire’ finishes off this E.P, in style and is a cover of the GBH track and is every bit as good as the original. This E.P. is a work of art and will appeal to fans of loud guitars as well as the other works this trio has been involved with. They’re seasoned Rockers who have got the chops and know-how to deliver. Trust me you need this E.P. in your collection as it just gets better on every listen.  pity, it is not a full album as it really is that good. Right I’m off to blast this again.

Author: Gareth ‘Hotshot’ Hooper

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