A couple months ago we featured in exclusive ‘The Lost UK Jewels Vol. 14 ; SWEET SIN – Sweet Sin’, a quality British melodic hard rock band from the ’80s. Former members bassist Ian Salpekar (aka Ku Martinez) & guitarist Andy J (Andy Halliwell) formed GONE SAVAGE from the ashes of Sweet Sin.
Originally GONE SAVAGE included as well DARE members Vinny Burns (guitar) and James Ross (drums) – as you see, there’s quality at GONE SAVAGE’s core. Fast forward 2019 and Salpekar resurrected the band and after a few singles they are releasing the debut album titled “PastLife“.
Based in and around Manchester the band purveys a classy take on classic hard rock but with a refreshingly melodic modern feel. With songs, riffs, melodies and choruses firmly inspired by the ’80s style, “PastLife” showcases a group of musicians not ‘recreating a style’ – they lived the Eighties.
The album was almost silently released but here we are to give ’em exposure… You’ve seen it first at plotn08
After the intro ‘Regression’ that has a retro feeling and which “captures musical / audio sound clips from our past with tracks we have written set to a back story of despair and hope”, comes ‘Icons of Today’ a song that has a little Dokken meets 1987 Queensryche vibe going on.
‘Irresistible’ adds a bit more bite but still rides those smooth melodic waters. There’s certainly a progressive element here, and one that eschews the huge chorus for the path less travelled, and whilst the solos are intact there’s a cool almost NWOBHM grit to many.
‘Life in Black and White’ is a pure melodic hard rocker driven by a big riff, a great song and one that does have that extra kick. ‘Permanent State of Change’ mixes things up a bit with a harder riff rocker that has bits of everyone from Def Leppard to Dokken in there.
‘Bulletproof’ gets things harder right to the point, and is the most metallic offering here and rather fine it is too!
The best though arguably is still to come: first ‘Life Incendiary’ builds slowly and has a wonderful languid opening, it’s a song with plenty of space and atmosphere (and again the Dokken comparisons come). As is the mid-tempo groove of ‘Louder Than the Sun’ which really hits the spot again before the catchy ‘Love Caught Me Out’ ups the pace and adds possibly the strongest refrain and solo to boot.
‘Redemption Song’ is moodier and another number with a little more space to breath and it again works rather well; ‘Powerless’ comes as another nice change of pace and sounds like a sure-fire crowd pleaser.
Closer ‘Touch Your God’ is another track that is more expansive, with extra arrangements, and like ‘Redemption Song’ and ‘Life in Black and White’ makes a nice trio of such songs that push the boundaries a little more.
While overall more elaborated than your typical melodic hard rock and wrapped by modern production standards, GONE SAVAGE’s “PastLife” takes you back to your teens when bands like Dokken, Ratt, Queensryche ruled the World, and others more contemporary such as AdrianGale, Bombay Black, etc.
Add to that American style all band members British ’80s melodic / hard influences.
Highly Recommended
01 – Regression
02 – Icon of Today
03 – Irresistible
04 – Life in Black and White
05 – Permanent State of Change
06 – Bulletproof
07 – Life Incendiary
08 – Louder Than the Sun
09 – Love Caught Me Out
10 – Redemption Song
11 – Power=Less
12 – Touch Your God
Ian Salpekar – bass, keys, backing vocals
Will Glover – lead and backing vocals
Dex Tyler – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Grant Mallison – guitar
Sam Millar – guitar
Don Genovese – backing vocals
GONE SAVAGE – PastLife (2022)+FLAC
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