Review Summary: “My kingdom come, take you one by one”
MEMBERS
Billy Nickell- Vocals
Dennis Nickell- Bass
Shane Bouthillier- Rhythm Guitar
Ben Bouhillier- Lead Guitar
Jeremy McLachlan- Drums
The Wicked Side Of Me EP that shows a potential for a promising career. Cold Driven offer a very promising sound to the alternative rock genre and to our ears. Is it a little cliché? Yes, but in the best possible way. Hailing from Canada,
Cold Driven break away from their controversial countrymen (Nickelback, who is one of the main names on the Canadian rock scene) and offer what could be considered as the best modern alternative rock album coming out of Canada.
The Wicked Side Of Me is not perfect, no album is but that doesn’t mean
The Wicked Side Of Me is lacking in quality and its overall playback value. From lyrical ideas to production (essentially top to bottom)
Cold Driven have given the rock scene something great to talk about.
The Wicked Side Of Me has all of its boxes ticked. Basically it’s very pleasing to the ears, from smooth, melodic rock vocals, to tasteful guitar solos there is a lot going on. ‘Kingdom Come’ marks the start of the EP after of course the ‘Intro’ that builds the mood greatly creating an atmosphere that sees this record in a positive light. It’s a seamless transition into ‘Kingdom Come’ where listeners’ experiencing Cold Driven for the first time are hit by a combination of hard hitting riffs, electronic sound samples, melodic muted riffing and crooning clean vocals driven by a strong rhythm section.
Instrumentally this album is top notch, there is nothing overly technical in this album’s making but in its simplicity
The Wicked Side Of Me is a highlight of creative talent. The guitars make up most of the band’s backbone with their “chugged” riffs and the bass and drums feed of the rhythmic ideas and reinforce the driving sound being presented. Considering that this comes fresh off ‘bandcamp’ it’s important to recognise the high quality this is being presented at.
Unfortunately,
The Wicked Side Of Me is only seven tracks long, one of those being a simple introduction and while it’s important to maintain your listeners’ attention over the complete course of the album, it’s equally important to provide enough of a listen to create that initial satisfaction. Cold Driven may have been better off to release this EP as a full length debut album to give the listeners’ something more.
Despite its overall brevity,
Cold Driven’s The Wicked Side Of Me EP is worthy of the praise it creates. From the Canadian rock scene comes something relatively unknown but extremely pleasing to the ears. From top to bottom there should be something (or something’s) that the listener will enjoy. Sure to have a high playback value and a production to match the quality of the content. The music is catchy, relatable and not overly technical.
Recommended Tracks
• Honestly, all of them.
