Formed in 2013, Stone Broken are a quartet who, despite their transatlantic sound, hail from Walsall. Revelation, on Spinefarm, is the British four piece’s third album and it is a polished slab of commercial hard rock.

The record starts with a bang with ‘Black Sunrise’, a burly rocker with big riffs, a hooky chorus and a solo with some dexterous fretwork. This is also the case with ‘The Devil You Know’, a catchy song with a throbbing bass line and some hefty guitars. You have heard it’s ilk before, American radio-friendly rock similar to Shinedown – helped along by the heavy yet glossy production of Dan Weller (Enter Shikari, Holding Absence, Bury Tomorrow). ‘Without a Reason’ is the most memorable moment, a short and sharp track with a brief but lively solo towards the end.

 

The title track is a bouncy number with a hummable melody but it is very familiar, and unfortunately this is a feature of the album as a whole. It is well crafted, accessible hard rock with tight production values but it is too formulaic. They have achieved what they set out to do and fans of the genre will lap it up, but they have stuck too ardently to its many tropes. Nowhere is this more true than ‘Me Without You’; an earnest attempt at a big ballad that lacks staying power and veers dangerously close to Nickelback territory.

The tail end of Revelation is more filler than killer, with the mid paced crunch of ‘Over The Line’ and the soul bearing ‘Stronger’ firmly under the nice but bland category. Things end on a brighter note though with ‘So Damn Easy’, an upbeat metal number with shuffling melody, a stomping beat and a Black Stone Cherry like attitude.

 

Revelation is a well made and slicky produced Hard Rock album with some lively moments, but is overly familiar and formulaic.

 

Buy the album here: https://stonebroken.lnk.to/RevelationID

 

6 / 10

THOMAS THROWER