Harmful - 7

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 6 / 5 / 2007

Label: Kool Arrow
Format: CD

intro

No nonsense and pleasurably old fashioned rock on seventh album from US hard rockers Harmful

07’ is the seventh album by US hard rockers Harmful. Not ones to understate the obvious their music has a similar no nonsense approach sound. It is not quite thrashy enough to be considered metal, but has enough giant riffs to put many metal bands to shame. It is good old fashioned rock music, but at no point during the album does it feel like an old or out dated album. Singer and guitarist Aren Amirze has a superb voice for their no frills tunes. He has a similar drawling melody to Scott Weiland from Velvet Revolver and the Stone Temple Pilots. The Stone Temple Pilots are one band that Harmful could certainly call their contemporaries. Think of the Stone Temple Pilots in their early-mid 90’s heyday with enormous guitars blended with rhythms that wind their way through your mind, and you're close to Harmful's sound. Harmful have been together for around 15 years now and in that time have built up a good fan base around the world. As well as Amirze, Harmful's other orignal members are Nico Heimann on drums and Chris Aidonopoulos on bass. They have welcomed on board a new member for this album, guitarist Billy Gould. Gould of course has the ability to arouse much curiosity and is another reason to seek out the band, (as did this reviewer did upon noticing his name), as he was the founding member and bass player for Faith No More, one of the biggest and one of the most influential bands of the 90’s. This is the first musical journey that he has embarked on in nearly 10 years and with Harmful he’s found a well worthy cause to come out of retirement. While Harmful never quite set off the spark of imagination that made Faith No More a cut above the rest, it is not hard to pick out some similarities with them because of the sheer musicianship on display. Not content with recruiting Gould, Harmful have also chosen to work with Flemming Rasmussen, who not only has the coolest name I’ve heard this year, but was responsible for mixing albums for Metallica such as ‘Master of Puppets’ and ‘Ride the Lightning’. Rasmussen has done a fantastic job of making sure that the band's recorded sound does them justice. ‘Old Mistakes’ kicks off the album in great style. Its timeless tale of one man making sure he learns from his mistakes and is as good a subject here as any. Throughout the album Harmful deal with other classic subjects such as love and alienation that while told from one person's point of view are universal in theme and are something we can all relate to and aspire to. There are some fantastic tunes that could appeal to the masses as well. The acoustic driven ‘Tension’, which builds nicely around its quieter beginning, and the far more up beat and louder ‘Hide’ are both songs that in particular are well worth checking out. There are countless bands trying to do ‘something different’ at the minute, and there are even more riding those coat tails and following trends. It is refreshing to hear a band such as Harmful, who while not ground breaking, play good heavy based rock music really well.

Track Listing:-