Chuck Schuldiner Project

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Knightlife - Swell


One of the thing that always gets me about rock and roll is the youthful exuberance of the genre, so whenever you get a group of young guys excited to be making music and anxious about getting on the road for the first time - well... you know it'll be something immensely enjoyable. Knightlife get that, and they also get their musical limitations making Swell well... swell to listen too.  This is the product of a band who reek of rock and roll and only seek to bring their music to the masses one power chord at a time.

From the very first riff on Otherside you get a sense for what Knightlife are trying to accomplish, old school rock and roll with touches of heavy metal to make things exciting. Now, I'll be the first to admit there definitely are a few limitations, the songwriting is great, but every now and then the vocals feel out of place. MacKnight has a tendency to write Van Halen-esque riffs and their occasionally pop-punky vocals can feel strange at times. That being said it also helps to make Swell iconoclastic. It's a distinct formula and one that probably will be further developed over the years. As is, Knightlife have been able to make their ideas truly exciting and some of the most well constructed in modern rock.

The fact of the matter is that as much as Swell sounds like a bunch of teenagers playing loud music, it also has a distinct rock and roll beauty in its simple sense of power and fun. This is music for the fans, meant to get you pumping your fist and slamming beers. With delicious guitar tone and all manner of high power major key riffs (And a few minor key ballads) Swell is addictive, and every chorus will leave you with a smile on your face, reveling in the glory of a guitar, a bass, a drumkit and some kid pouring his heart into the microphone.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/Knightlife5150

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