10 Years
Feeding The Wolves

The 10 Years are a group perfectly unknown in Italy, and I must say that it's a real shame. The band was formed in 1999, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and after a debut that went almost totally unnoticed, "Into The Half Moon," the group radically changed their sound, entrusting the vocals to the highly talented Jesse Hasek. The band resurfaced 3 years later, in 2004, with the EP "Killing All That Holds You," and then in 2005, with their debut album "The Autumn Effect." It is a delicate, dreamy work, rather soft and very pleasant to listen to: personally, I found only a few tracks that disappointed me. The sound is a kind of reworking of the Hard Rock of the Chevelle, but less angry.

Three more years go by, and in 2008 the band returns to the spotlight with their second album, "Division," which in my opinion, is the worst chapter of their discography so far. Not that it's a bad record, by any means: there are good songs, but it's too repetitive and tired to be appreciated.

Two years later, in 2010, their third work, "Feeding The Wolves," comes to light, and it easily reaches the mid-high levels of "The Autumn Effect", but brings something new: a greater presence of more driven tracks, which engage the listener as much as the songs from the first album. And it's about double the engagement level of the second album.

The lead single is the gritty Shoot It Out, the heaviest song ever written by the group, where the second voice performs an excellent accompaniment. I must point out the good work of the drummer who, along with the singer, seems the most talented of the band. Not that the others are incapable, by any means, but I wouldn't define the two guitarists as talented soloists. Even the bassist doesn't excel technically, but holds his own. Shoot It Out quite well summarizes the essence of what Feeding The Wolves is: you'll find clean singing, a lot of melody, some rare (very rare) screaming, good melodic background work, and an excellent rhythmic base dictated by the drums.

The more driven tracks are the first three, namely Shoot It Out, The Wicked Ones and Now Is The Time (Ravenous). Then in the album, we'll find three other not exceptional, but still interesting, tracks, the three power-ballads Fix Me, Chasing The Rapture and Dead In The Water (and in the latter, once again, the drums dominate). The truly slow songs are only two, very few for a band like 10 Years, but this helps to not slow down the atmosphere too much. I'm obviously talking about the two songs One More Day and Don't Fight It, in 4th and 8th position, respectively. Both feature very calm and sing-song melodies; here it's Jesse Hasek's superb voice that saves the situation, combined with his talent for writing simple yet truly effective lyrics. Both turned out very well, although in my opinion, One More Day is a step above.

At the end, we find a kind of cross between a driven song and a power-ballad, the short yet impactful Waking Up The Ghost, and an epic and convincing closing track, the long Fade Into (The Ocean), the most variable track on the album. If we also want to look at the bonus tracks, we won't find anything spectacular: from the banal Running In Place to the tired and monotonous ballad Silhouette Of A Life, and the hypnotic but somewhat repetitive I Blame You.

Well, to sum up, this album is a work that functions in almost all aspects; it's a pity about the small decline we find in the bonus tracks. Don't expect anything excessively genius or revolutionary, but it earns its honest 7 out of 10 without difficulty. Suitable for those expecting a handful of good songs to spend forty minutes with. I recommend it to fans of Breaking Benjamin and Chevelle, who with "Feeding The Wolves" will find something to sink their teeth into.