• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

January 2025

• Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
• Bonfire: Higher Ground
• The Big Deal: Electrified
• Landfall: Wide Open Sky

December 2024

• After Lapse: Pathways
• Illusion Force: Halfana
• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

[ More Music Reviews ]

Carbellion: Headliner EP

Heavy Rock

3.5/5.0

Website Facebook
Indie 500 Records (US) / Dead Tree Music (EU)
by Craig Hartranft,  07.24.2013

Wisconsin's Carbellion shows their dreams and aspirations with the title of their new EP, Headliner. With two LPs and one split EP, with Outshine, under their belts, it's still good to have goals. Whether the band rises to headliner status from this six song disc is yet to be seen.

Carbellion: massive facial hair.

Probably the best thing about Headliner is Carbellion's heavier than lead cover of Mountain's Mississippi Queen. But that's only because I love the band and that song, having grown up with both. I wonder if Carbellion would have the musical cojones to cover Theme from an Imaginary Western or Nantucket Sleighride. But I digress.

While one could dismiss this platter of tunes as merely post-grunge American heavy rock, there's more to this EP than meets the ear. And the only way you'll find out is be listening to it more than once or twice. The opener Never and the closer Unsafe Behavior offer solid fast-paced rockers with a strong groove and bristling solos. They're essentially bar fight music. In between, Risky Business/Slight Return and Cities show sublime nuances in Carbellion's arrangements, from subtle to stomping on your neck, and also, especially the latter song, vocalist Cameron's (he was born without a last name) unsuspected versatility. After Mississippi Queen, it's probably the best song here. But can they pull it off live without smothering his vocals. All in all, Headliner is a worthy effort of blistering American heavy rock, just what Carbellion was after.

Carbellion - Never (Live)

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Whether this album makes Carbellion 'headliners' on tour or not, it does display their penchant and talent for creating genuine American heavy rock.

Alphabetical Index

The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]