Age of Reason

Reviewed: "One Small Act of defiance"

Well?: Does anyone remember the good old days before 'emo' became a bad word?

Nowadays, describing something as 'emo' is the social equivalent of insulting their mother, but there was a time, back in the late 90's, before the word was hijacked by whining over privileged teenagers, where 'emo' rock meant well constructed, intelligent music that contained words longer than two syllables and forced the listener to actually think a bit. Which leads us to Age of Reason.

Very reminiscent of the creators of this old-school emo rock, Liberty 37, AOR is fuzzed up stadium rock with a conscience, combining mighty riffs and growly vocals into some epic tour-de-force rock tracks. Very American, very quiet-to-loud-to-quiet verse choruses and very modern sounding, this isn't an album that's going to surprise anyone with innovation and ingenuity, its just a solid kick ass rock n roll album with more than half a brain and a booming rhythm section.

Influences seem to shine through and disappear as quickly as they came throughout the album, with a glimmer of Soundgarden here, a splash of Metallica there and even a bit of 'Nurse'-era Therapy? cropping up, all combining into some nice little semi-retro songs like the opener 'Public Property' or the anthemic 'Killing Time'.

On the downside (and, being Voltcase, we have to find a downside!), there does seem to be a lack of awareness in certain songs about the mood being created - there are vocal lines that sound like they came straight out of an Iron Maiden song, accompanied by music more suited to the darkest days of grunge, but that really is minor point and was probably intentional anyway. And a bit of a mix up in the track order to add some variation wouldn't go amiss.

Overall? Where did it all go wrong, 'emo'? Listen to AOR and find out how it should be done - highly recommended chunkie rock n roll!

Reviewed by ME

Contact: www.ageofreason.co.uk