Loud Nine
Revelations

Four friends driven by a common passion for Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age, this is essentially what Loud Nine is. Ordinary people who, like every common mortal, once they pick up an instrument, blend their own musical roots with personal taste, resulting in - of course - different outcomes depending on the talent. And surely this group has something to say, as evidenced by the fact that after releasing their debut “Golem,” they were catapulted onto important stages alongside Nick Oliveri, Ojm, Briggs, and Get Up Kids, giving them even more confidence and hunger.

Today, four years after their debut, here they are back with “Revelations,” a significant step forward from its predecessor in terms of songwriting and expressiveness but one that should make the musicians themselves reflect on some of the choices made. The trio that opens the album is certainly the best calling card: "Locomotive", "Carson", and "Platinum" are three excellent songs with strong heavy features, with warm and overwhelming guitar riffs in their stoner-oriented progression. We could almost say we are faced with the best tracks of the entire set if - after a few listens - it weren't apparent that fundamentally each song here, while enjoying its own life in terms of style, has key elements that unify the whole. A sort of concept album, in short, something intriguing and complex at the same time that has yielded good results. The eleven tracks here carefully explore different types of music, covering stoner, southern music, the US rock school, and, as already mentioned, the rawer side of heavy music. Everything is good so far, even in the lyrics, interesting in their messages and in need of improvement concerning pronunciation, a flaw that won't cause Loud Nine problems if the album is exported abroad.

What seems to spoil the party somewhat is the recording, a significant issue in the case of “Revelations.” When talking about rock productions, the first thing that strikes upon listening is the sound impact, the warmth a riff transmits, or the progression of the rhythm section: elements that unfortunately are lacking in this work, not due to the technical shortcomings of the protagonists. The choice of a recording studio is often determined by the financial budget available to a band, and for this reason, I don't feel like demonizing the group. But what is certain is that it's disappointing to be faced with tracks of high potential that convey only 50% of their capabilities, giving that sensation of incompleteness. Ultimately, never before has it been necessary to give two ratings on the entire work: excellent regarding the content and mediocre concerning the choice of technical means.