It's not every band that opens its CD with a seven-minute, slow-grooving emotional ballad called "Sorry"—though I suppose if you open with an apology, you've got at least some amount of time or number of mistakes for which you're already excused. Screaming Souls IV is the title of the album on which the aforementioned track appears, along with nine others that span the rock spectrum from effects-drenched ballads to dry-as-a-bone rifftastic rockers.
Though the guitars flavor this release with a predominantly crunchy, humbucker-driven maelstrom of thick cock-rock, there is also a little something slightly more glammy going on here. It could be that (lead vocalist) Barry Kingston sounds a little bit like T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan—he's got a vibe that's bluesier than Bowie and grittier than Bono but still sorta shimmers like glam. It's hard to guess all of any artist's musical influences, but it almost seems as if Kingston's education in blues began with the first Led Zeppelin album and worked backwards from there. Indeed, the fourth and longest track on the disc ("No Painful Sunrise," clocking in at 8:47) is highly reminiscent of slow, drawn-out Zep blues anthems like "I Can't Quit You Baby" (a souped-up Willie Dixon song) or "Since I Been Lovin' You."
Most of the tunes on Screaming Souls IV have some '70s or '80s guitar rock feel—"Forgotten" brings back memories of wailing-guitar-over-tribal-beat grooves that Hendrix might have crafted, and "Train Don't See Me" would be right at home on a Bon Jovi or Guns 'n' Roses album. Instrumentation includes things like phased rhythym guitar tracks, electric pianos and even the much-vaunted Mellotron (the keyboards courtesy of infamous ivory-tickler Paul McNamara).
Kingston's lyrics are a trifle epic sometimes, evoking images like lonely cowboys on long, dusty roads and other slightly over-American or a-little-too-globally-meaningful themes, but it's not out of place with the music, and sometimes it even gets a bit Springsteen-ish, which is never a bad thing.
More than anything, you can tell that these guys are incredibly comfortable playing what they play. They may not be reinventing the wheel or actually informing Mr. Jones that there's something going on that he's not noticing, but what they put out is honest and heartfelt, and it's evident that they take great care in sculpting the tones and nuances of all their instrumentation. Helming the board for Screaming Souls IV is Spirit Haus Records' Danny Bernini, who's listed as co-producer with Barry and (brother) Chris Kingston, and also provides assorted percussion on the album. The instruments are all played impeccably, and Kingston has an undeniably powerful singing voice.
Screaming Souls formed in 1998 and has seen its share of personnel changes, but its current lineup features the Kingstons (vocals and guitars), Joe Boyle (guitar), John O'Boyle (bass) and Tommy Diehl (drums). This Friday the decade-old five-piece comes to the Iron Horse in Northampton to rattle the walls, shred some guitar strings and maybe even bust a few drumsticks."
Check out Screaming Souls' new CD at www.screamingsoulsnow.com or sashay down to their Noho release party at the Iron Horse on March 20 at 7 p.m.
