Of Allies – Night Sky
Release Date: 17th November 2017
Label: Self-Release
Of Allies are the latest in a long line of Alt-Rock bands trying to break into the Radio 1 style of rock that is accessible across the board. In the same week that Don Broco headlined Alexandra Palace in London there is definitive proof that this not only is a realistic goal for bands these days, but one that is currently being lived out.
What do Of Allies bring to the table that differs to the ‘competition’ around them though? Well opening up with the euphoric title track ‘Night Sky’ gives the impression that these guys are more Bad Sign than Don Broco and the riff that kicks in after nearly 3 minutes backs this up. The opener has airs of Deftones towards the end and overall is a decent track all round.
This is where Of Allies start to struggle though. The album doesn’t really get above ‘decent’ throughout. It feels like they’ve taken on board what bands like Black Peaks and Bad Sign are doing and tried to put their own inoffensive slant on it and what has come out of that is something not quite as good.
Tracks like ‘Collapse’ start really strongly with a nice big riff but when the vocals kick in they just aren’t powerful enough to live up to it. They aren’t poor vocals by any stretch, they just don’t bring all much to the table. Towards the end of the album ‘CMD-Q’ comes in and changes pretty much everything as by far the strongest track on the album. It’s punchy attitude is a welcome change to what became a relatively tired formula throughout the previous 10 tracks.
Overall, CMD-Q and the opening title track save this album from being forgettable. There’s potential here for the band to push on with the strengths that are evident from the album and create a follow up over the next year or so that demonstrates the best that they can do. In the meantime, there are a few songs on this album that make it worth a listen and justify getting to a show to see them live.
Rating: 5/10
Recommended Track: CMD-Q
Social Media links:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OfAllies/
Website: ofallies.com