Remember all those great hard rock bands of the late 60's and early 70's? Acts like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad, Captain Beyond, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, and Free had plenty of top selling albums and tours, and combined the best elements of heavy rock, blues, jazz, psychedelia, and some even a touch of prog rock. Well, Sweden's Siena Root sure do remember those great bands of the past, and pay homage to them on this reissue of their 2004 debut, A New Day Dawning.
The band at this point in time was comprised of Sam Riffer (Bass & vocals), KG West (lead guitar & vocals), H. Forsberg (percussion & vocals), and Oskar Lundstrom (Vocals & organ), and together they were a force to be reckoned with, as they channeled that 70's sound not only through the songs they wrote but also the production of the album. In fact, if you gave this one a quick listen and didn't glance at the digipack at all, you'd probably be surprised to find out this one was from 2004 and not 1972. Plenty of crunchy, somewhat bluesy hard rock riffs and swirling organ permeate tracks like "Coming Home", "Above the Trees", "Just Another Day", and "Fever", and the vocals are quite good without the slightest hint of a Swedish accent. On "What Can I Do" the band even conjure up images of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blind Faith, Allman Brothers, and Derek and the Dominoes, from the soulful vocals right down to the raging organ and wild slide guitar solo. Deep Purple fans will love the heavy organ/guitar romp of "Little Man", while "Trippin", "Until Time Leaves Us Again", and "Into the Woods" contain plenty of scorching lead guitar from West, and some kick ass distorted riffs that remind of a cross between Jimmy Page and Mark Farner. Prog lovers will dig the epic "Rasayana", a creepy extended number with plenty of atmosphere and shifts between moments of bombast and lush acoustic passages.
It's hard not to like the retro sounds of A New Day Dawning, and we can thank Rockadrome Records for making sure that this little gem is once again brought to our attention. I'll be certain to keep an eye out for this band in the very near future, and you should too.
Track Listing
- Coming Home
- Just Another Day
- Shine
- Fever
- Above the Trees
- What Can I Do
- Little Man
- Roots
- Trippin'
- Until Time Leaves Us Again
- Words
- Rasayana
- Into the Woods
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