Remember the 90’s when gas wasn’t seven dollars a gallon, there was no such thing as TikTok and there were actual rock bands that played their instruments? Well, Roseneath is an up and coming rock band that blends 90’s alternative, grunge and a bit of shoegaze to remind us a bit of the 90’s rock period with their upcoming debut demo, “Shine.”
This two person band from Richmond, VA really caught my attention when they first reached out to me, as I do not get a lot of new bands describing themselves as grunge these days, or even shoegaze for that matter. Most readers of this blog know that I tend to cover a fair amount of death metal, black metal and bands that are looking to decimate your eardrums. However, I am a fan of all things hard rock and heavy metal, and have a very eclectic taste in music that has me listening to New Order one day and then Graveland the next. Roseneath is a group that does not seem to be afraid to explore their sound and draws from a variety of influences. I can tell that these are young songwriters trying to piece it all together, and I really must say that I respect the effort and creativity.
The entire release is full of simple yet very powerful melodies along with that hard hitting grunge guitar sound at times. “Blurred & Bent,” captures that Nirvana like energy where the riffs are dirty sounding, but you also have some mesmerizing moments to create a very calming atmosphere. The soaring vocal parts during the song also added an extra boost of raw emotion and I really liked this singer’s delivery. On the second track, “By a Thread,” the band deals out another solid piece of music that once again features some meaty sounding riffs. I will say that I was not as enthusiastic about the guitar mix at times, but I will be fair and say that these guys are not working in a top of the line recording studio and getting produced by Steve Albini.
For fans of more alternative rock, “Say Never,” will definitely be a song that I can see getting people to drift away into that soothing see of blissful distortion. For the most part, the overall arrangement is pretty simple and straight forward, although the band places a lot of emphasis on the chorus section which sort of reminded me of King’s X. In the end, my favorite song off of the album is, “Chasing Ghosts,” because from start to finish the overall recording is extremely tight. Right from the beginning the rush of thunderous distortion pulls you in without any warning and then makes way for a hypnotic chorus section. One of my favorite parts during the song is when the band does a quick pause for that dramatic effect right before jumping back into a mountain sized bludgeoning of unapologetic angst. The last song on the EP, “Shine” is a decent track and once again showcases a group with a hunger to write some tight sounding rock music that can hopefully appeal to wide range of listeners.
I think listeners who are looking for an ambitious rock band taking influence from 90’s rock music whether it be grunge, alternative or shoegaze, will really be pleasantly surprised by this band. “Shine,” is a great first introduction and I believe there is a lot to build off of on future releases, especially when pertaining to the songwriting talents showed on, “Chasing Ghosts.” Roseneath is just the band the world needs right now as I find the whole rock is dead statement made by a lot of people to be rather pessimistic. I encourage artists like this to keep recording and performing, because you never know what they might record one day. Also, I would prefer to see more bands like Roseneath instead of young people doing those horrendous TikTok videos that are watched by mindless zombies.
Link to Roseneath Bandcamp :
