The band Faith Head is a band I’m not very familiar with. All I saw was plenty of online activity and promoting of their full-length album. I’m taking this opportunity to actually give these guys some plug here in the UK.
Upon starting to listen to their 12-track debut full-length, at first with “Revolution” cranking out a punk bassline, introducing the band, I was quite surprised by the diversity of the band… certainly not a band that wants to keep it in a single genre.
“Freakshow” steps in, then more of a hard rock element which the evidence is very clear. Most of my memories on how to describe Faith Head, is a mixture of Soundgarden/Alice In Chains structure, as both bands were and are very progressive with their songwriting and ballads.
We then “Push” through to the next track, which holds a strong influence of blues rock, filled with positive God-driven lyrics on a Biblical teaching expressed in the art of music. Jason Beavers’ vocals are clear and precise, bordering on the late Chris Cornell.
“Burn” comes into the fray with a grunge ballad, very similar to the sounds of Holy Soldier’s effort back in 1994 with “Promise Man”. This song is melodic and has a seriously badass guitar solo which matches the mood beautifully, standing up with the bands of old.
“Going Into The Mountain” has such a strong influence of Alice In Chains with its delivery. Anyone familiar with the album Dirt can relate to the slow, driven rock sounds and even the vocal – you could almost picture the late Layne Staley jumping behind the mic, tearing it up as he knew best.
Then the straight slow hard rock sound of “Jehovah Jireh” comes in, keeps with the current trending of the album.
“The Walk” is smooth from the beginning, a clear and crisp sound that excels with excellence. Faith Head are by no means a fast-playing band, hints of doom rock can also be heard through the backbone of the elegant riffs and bass lines, probably my favourite track on the album.
“Under The Blood” cruises in with a metal-sounding riff that I heard long time ago with Australian band Paramecium, but to really keep to that AudioSlave sound which is the most I can describe it really.
We “Crawl Back In” with this almost mirror image sounding of Soundgarden, added in also are some hard rock/metal riffs to break up the track to give it a different tone to not be a full knock-off. The overall tightness of Faith Head is definitely present throughout.
“Gotta Live It” cranks in a punk rock blast, to again show the listener how even throughout the whole album that they are diverse in their deliveries. Fast paced and energetic is all I can say on the matter.
Thrown in also is an acoustic version of “The Walk” which obviously to me is an added bonus to the release, as it is possibly one of their strongest tracks compared to the rest of the album.
“Faith Head” the ending song of this effort, mixes both ’80s pop punk and classic metal, which in itself blends in very well, closing with a quality song with a bit of pace.
Overall, a very good effort from the band, with a strong Christian message and a heart to teach throughout their music. Even though I loved the sound and the structure of the album, I did think that influence always builds a band to get their own sound, but quite a few times it was just Soundgarden. Not taking away anything from the band, I can certainly see a great future ahead of them
7/10 – Christian Sullivan