Thursday, May 14, 2009

Dirty Beloved - Letters From A Broken Home

Ottawa based hard rock band Dirty Beloved are back with another slab of crunchy rock songs with their sophomore release "Letters From A Broken Home". Armin Kamal was kind enough to let me know so I could do another review.

The first thing I noticed with Dirty Beloved's new album is the increase in adrenaline. This is hard driving rock with an almost thrash metal intensity. That appeals to me very much, as I'm a metal head at heart. However, fans of their debut need not fret. Though "A World Made For You" is a more reflective journey, it is still a nice slice of heavy hard rock.

"Letters From A Broken Home" is simply more straight forward rock. Dirty Beloved may be moving into more aggressive territory, but they never sacrifice melody. If anything, "Letters From A Broken Home" is more accessible then their debut. This is not your cookie cutter hard rock platter, though. Dirty Beloved still infuse slower reflective parts, haunting vocals and guitars and that solid back bone groove that was the foundation of the debut.

The album kicks off with "Blind Eye Of God" which is an aggressive melodic number packed full of passion. "You Let Me Drown" continues the riff assault with some blazing solo's and spitfire vocals. "My Days With You" is another song whose riffs border on metal all the while retaining the Dirty Beloved sound.

"Why Would I" has some killer riffs reminiscent of late 80's hard rock, but never sounding dated. It's brooding undertones are intense and poignant. The album closer takes that darker edge to haunting proportions in a powerfully bleak yet inspiring tune.

"Take Good Care", "Not One To Save" and "I Walk Away" are fun rockers with monster riffs and loads of melodies. Heavy with a more upbeat sound. "Homebound" is a quieter, reflective piece that builds into a bleak, haunting rock song and the closest thing to a ballad you'll get here.

Overall, I am quite impressed with "Letters From A Broken Home" and the heavier, aggressive direction. The guitars are biting and the riffs are hooky. Armin's vocals are melodic and intense. There is a lot of conviction in his raspy wail that reeks of passion and honesty.

Dirty Beloved seem to be settling into their own and that comes across with this collection of songs. Their debut was great and "Letters From A Broken Home" builds on that with experience and familiarity.

I look forward to future albums and the musical journeys Dirty Beloved takes us through.

Check them out on their MySpace page, here

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