Four years after his last concert given at Hellfest, Australian rockers KORITNI are back with his 6th studio album, the well-named “Long Overdue.” Mixed by renowned Kevin Shirley (Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin) and mastered by Ryan Smith (AC/DC, Greta Van Fleet), this new album reveals 12 bomb cuts for fans of classic rock / hard. Lead rhythms, sharp riffs, inspired solos, and top-fly vocal performance from the charismatic Lex Koritni, “Long Overdue” brings together all the ingredients that have made the band’s Australian band’s name.
Lex Koritni has surrounded himself with new musicians for this album: Tom Fremont (guitar) – the audience has already seen him on 2019 dates including Hellfest – and Daniel Fasano (drums).
Seems his long break has benefited the now ‘trio’, and in particular frontman Lex Koritni. He confided that he wanted to return to his blues roots, and he does. Not that this album is to be classified in this stylistic category, but because the influences are here clearly assumed.
But Koritni is first and foremost hard rock, the kind that smells of sweat, overheated asphalt and adulterated whisky. The rocking riffs provide a flawless efficiency to tracks such as ‘For The Love Of The Game’ or ‘Born To Lose’. ‘Far Cry For N°1’ or ‘Bone For You’ stick their sharp fangs into your neck and trigger epileptic movements in all your joints.
As for ‘Funny Farm’, it is positively delirious and offers an impressively fast solo. Of course, Koritni doesn’t forget the groove that made his reputation (‘Better’) and he also knows how to be more melodic (‘Tonight’). And if the coherence of this opus and its efficiency are obvious, they essentially rely on some recurrent elements such as the unstoppable choruses.
But “Long Overdue” also shows a nice variety of which we’ve already mentioned, and these would be incomplete if we didn’t mention ‘Last Time’. More acoustic-rock, but still muscular, this track sees Lex offering a nuanced interpretation and benefits from the presence of Luke Cuerden, former guitarist for the band and guest on this track.
A winning comeback for Koritni, who hit hard with this new opus, which is both refreshing and mature and combines variety with efficiency. In the end, the line-up changes had very little impact on the band’s music, and it’s even possible that they allowed the Franco-Australian band to reinvigorate itself and find an energy that was starting to be a bit lacking.
If you need a classic rock / hard vitamin boost, this opus is made for you.
Highly Recommended
1. No Strings Attached
2. For the Love of the Game
3. Tonight
4. Long Overdue
5. Far Cry from No. 1
6. Bone for You
7. Better
8. Born to Lose
9. Funny Farm
10. Go Hard or Go Home
11. Last Time
12. Take it Off
Koritni – Long Overdue 2023, MP3+FLAC+ HIRES
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