Freedom Hawk: Sunlight

Heavy rock of the '70s is back with a vengeance with the debut release Sunlight from Virginia's Freedom Hawk, originally released in 2008 and now remastered by the good folks at Ripple Music. The beginnings of the band date back to 2003 so this quartet has been laying out their foundation for quite some time.

The band is Mark Cave (bass), Lenny Hines (drums), T.R. Morton (guitars, vocals) and Matt Cave (guitars).

This is really fuzz laden heavy rock at its finest. Psychedelic and stoner rock elements with heavy guitar riffs and awesome grooves will hit you like a sledgehammer but don't worry, this album never becomes tedious or overwhelming. The catchy riff progressions have a lot do with that as do Morton's lead vocals which bear a large resemblance to a young Ozzy Osbourne. His voice matches the music in near perfect fashion making for a highly listenable concoction.

The first track "Executioner" begins with creepy sounding effects and droning sounds before the fuzzy riffs ring and chime. When the beat starts the real heaviness begins with a barrage of melodic fuzz and those Ozzy-like lead vocals. In a word, excellent. More '70s style heaviness can be heard on the distortion filled "Land of the Lost" and the ultra-catchy title track. Great riffs and vocals highlight the delightful "Stand Back" as well as the riff heavy psychedelic tinged "Lightning Charge". The disc ends with "A King of Order" featuring the best guitar solo on the disc. The band is absolutely cooking on this track. My one complaint is the few minutes of silence near the end of the disc which serves to lose any momentum the band had. Although very annoying this certainly wasn't a deal breaker as I still regard Sunlight as an excellent disc.

A highly recommended release from Ripple Music.

Track Listing:
1. Executioner
2. Land of the Lost
3. Sunlight
4. Stand Back
5. Lightning Charge
6. Goin' Down
7. Palomino
8. Grab a Hold
9. A King of Order

Added: March 19th 2017
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Label's Bandcamp Site
Hits: 1674
Language: english

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