Raven’s Heart – Half Dead Roses

This was an album that was delivered to me in person, and album that may have otherwise passed me by, and I’ll have to say that this would have been a tragedy. Raven’s Heart are a band based in the Lancaster region, they are young and learning quickly, this is music that will thrive in the DIY scene and beyond given the time it deserves. Half Dead Roses is the band’s debut album and it’s fully DIY, produced and released fully by the band and friends.

Musically I’d have to say this album leans toward but not solely the Rock/Emo/Punk camp, when you hit play for the first time and ‘Another Bloody Mary’ slams into your eardrum, its one of those OMG this is really gonna be good moments, does it reach the dizzy heights of your first listen to Teenage Kicks, Basket Case, although in ‘Live Fast Live Forever’ there’s definitely an Undertones, Green Day vibe going on, or not, but you know where I’m coming from. The vocals are stand out memborable, the guitars/bass are strong and of their own, and the drums give some pretty damn outstanding atmosphere, and more importantly, together this is raw and beautiful.

As a whole this is an album that throws up so many different styles and directions, that you might be forgiven for thinking, is this a compilation album, but no this is a band thats finding its way and not sticking to the conventional single genre sound, which is a great thing to listen to. With so many stand out songs it’s hard to pick which might be a favourite, but let’s give some of them a shout out. The kick off track ‘Another Bloody Mary’ bounces along with a great sense of melody and sets you up for what’s to comes nicely, ‘Faith’ is possibly the heaviest sounding on the album with a Nirvana esque sound thats filled with great licks, ‘Gecko’ slows things down to start with, but slams a pretty hard hitting chorus to this song thats full of hurt and regret, then we have an acoustic thrown in with ’00:41’ with a simplicity that is just got classic written all over it. To end we get could actually be the stand out among many Featuring a vocal from Amy Wildman, ‘I’ll Be Back’ feels like a demo in its production and finish, but what a song this is, who cares thats it sounds almost unfinished, this adds to its attraction I would say, why ruin something by over doing it!

An album that is full of musical wonderment, and is still growing I’d say.If your looking for a band that will give you a sound that grabs you and takes you back to your youth as a Punk or an Emo, or just simply as a Rock n Roller, then Raven’s Heart are by this albums standard, going places, and I would say they deserve some investment of your time and support.

Out now on all good streaming platforms.

The band can be contacted via Facebook for physical copies.