Released by: Eonian Records
Release Date: April 10th, 2012
Genre: Hard Rock
Links: http://www.eonianrecords.com/
Line Up:
Bobby Reid – Bass & Vocals
Michael Karafilis – Guitar & Vocals
Paul Trombetta – Lead Vocals
John Link – Drums & Vocals
Tracklist:
01. Land Of Plenty
02. Honey Child
03. Outta Line
04. Ultraglide
05. Simple Man
06. Dirty Work
07. Never Was An Angel
08. What’s Good For You
09. Long Time Comin’
10. Keep Me In Mind
11. Got No Business
12. Around Again
13. Song?
Anytime the Hard Rock and Metal archive label Eonian Records sets up for a new release, I tend to take notice not only for the quality of the material but the fact that these guys go out and find some rare gems of bands that never shined the way they probably could of in the 80’s, adds a little added caveat to each release. It had been a little while since the label’s last record release, and this time we are presented with one of those upcoming releases by the 80’s Hard Rock outfit Murder Bay.
Borrowing a few sentences from the official press release, “Murder Bay was one of the top unsigned rock bands of the late ’80s and early ’90s, packing clubs from Los Angeles to their hometown of San Francisco’s East Bay.” I have to say after spinning the album a few times, I really relish this band and once again very excited but not surprised to be enjoying a killer title that comes to fruition way too late. The ass kicking vocals, the cool driving riffs and the melodic hooks are all there coinciding with a nice rhythm section that brings flashes of the good old days. I did some research on the band and looked up their singer John Link and the dude looks completely different then on these press shots obviously, which feature the band with it’s hair metal and all it’s glory ready and primed to hit it big.
The looks, the part and the style all blend in very well, but at the end of the day what you really want to know is if the music is any good right? Well is short and simple.. YES is typical high class Hard Rock and what you come to expect from Eonian when it comes to their releases. The first few tracks kick it into high gear with some super sharp guitars leading the way on songs “Land of Plenty”, and the tongue and cheek words of “Honey Child”. The slower ballad of “Simple Man” tones things down for a minute and is a nice change of pace. The guys brings thing up a notch on “What’s Good For You” with a quality melodic chorus and tight guitars once more. The last tune “Song?” is a terrific Van Halen style riff fest with a cool little rhythm that takes the cake with some killer guitar solos.
Similar in style and technicality the band plays to their strength, and their sound is instantly recognizable and acclimated to the scene back then. Six of the songs have been remastered by Eric Valentine who had worked with such bands as Queens of the Stone Age, Third Eye Blind and Slash. Is easy to see why the band was one of the top unsigned rock bands of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Link has stated that they had been looking for a long time to release these songs but never got around to it, an every day joe life tends to make things harder when it comes to music, so it’s raising a family so that’s understandable. However the delay is nice to have these songs on record and finally seeing the light of day, a job well done by Eonian and co. Big props also to the cover art which is pretty racy and sharp the way I like it courtesy of Eddi Calzada of Suicide Graphix. A nice package for fans of the 80’s who never fail to get enough of this timeless music that will never die.
Written by Denys
Ratings Denys 8/10
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