Rabbit Hill - Carrots and Sticks (LP)

VÖ: 1995
Produktion: DIY
Label: Selbstvertrieb

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music.apple.com...and-sticks/973896322

Details

Detritus (USA) - Issue #38
Rabbit Hill is a pretty cool little indie hard rock outfit from Germany. They've got a surprisingly unique and original sound and vibe to them, blending aspects of Scandinavian AOR, Euro-metal, and southern rock into a tight collection of tracks. The opener, "Lonesome Dancer" is brooding mid-tempo rock, with a fairly dark metallish feel. It caught me off-guard, as the somewhat silly name of the band and album title had me expecting something considerably more bouncy. "Lonesome Dancer" gives way to "Coming Home," which has '70s style hard rock written all over it. It sports a very Deep Purple-ish guitar, though the overall feel makes the song seem like it could have been lifted off of any Molly Hatchet album. Track 3 is a kind of Angel-meets-Judas Priest type of rocker, "Cage Of Gold." The band blends some very pomp sounding keyboards with a chugging NWOBHM-ish guitar sound and rough vocals. Just when you think you've got the band pegged, the piano heavy ballad "Why" starts up. This track really showcases the unique voice of lead singer Dieter Bartsch. He's got a deep, tough sounding voice, that I'm having trouble coming up with a comparison for. His voice is perfect for the overall moody vibe of the disc. Other cool spots include the acoustic, almost folksy ballad "Stop The World," a mildly proggy rocker, "The Witch," and the funked-up rocker "Shuttle Of Love." The album finishes with the crunchy, evil sounding "Mr. Roper" (an ode to Norman Fell?), a sort of funky ballad called "Bright Light," and an all piano instrumental track. Overall it's a fresh sounding, solid effort, worth checking out.
Craig Matusinsky