Nine Black Alps, Everything is

Nirvana and Nine Black Alps. Everyone's making the comparison. But if you delve a little deeper into the sound of the band you realise that they're so much more than a post-grunge tribute band. Reviewing the entire album on a whole would be too difficult so I'll rate one song at a time.

1) Get your guns - Cracking "take-no-prisoners" opening track that tears straight into a killer riff and pounding drums. Dark and distorted verse with energetic and extremely catchy chorus. Powerful bridge with straight-from-gut-to-throat screaming. A great way to hook in the listener. 8/10

2) Cosmopolitan - The first single off the album with immediately memorable verse and deliciously punk guitar riff which quickly switches to wonderfully sh*t kicking chorus. A kind of anti-love song which depicts the writers angst and lack of satisfaction, "You're not pretty enough, you're not skinny enough" "I'll take my life, we'll be dead by sunrise." A highlight on the album - 9/10

3)Not everyone - Another single and possibly the rawest song on the album, massive build up and eerie vocals reign in the verses whilst beautifully controlled-yet-random distortion collaborates with great shouty/singy vocals in the chorus. Guitar solo played using a drumstick to brilliant effect! Marred only by being slightly repetitive at times - 8/10

4) Unsatisfied - A favourite amongst fan-boys which takes the soft verse/shouty chorus to new levels. Fitting opening guitar riff and great pained vocals and chorus. Slightly robotic but brilliant all the same, giving a great feeling of depth by using reverb very cleverly. Too short, however and only slight annoyances deny this a higher score - 8/10

5) Headlights - Arguably the worst song on the album, disparate and slightly boring riff, uncontrolled pace and annoying chorus. Whereas almost every other song on the album could be a single this is instantly forgettable. Not without the odd moment but this is still a dip in an otherwise great album - 6/10

6) Behind your eyes - An absolute gem of a song that reveals a soft side of the band. Absolutely beautiful acoustic guitar and painstakingly mesmerising vocals. Not really favoured amongst the "heavy - good, soft - bad" circle of fans which is a massive shame as this is one of the best songs on the album and takes a nice break from the heaviness of the other songs that are featured - 9/10

7) Ironside - A perfectly fine song that does everything by the book, nice guitar riff, hooky bassline and interesting vocals. Very samey however and not really distinguished from the rest of the album. Great potential but all in all, a little tedious... - 7/10

8) Shot down - Often considered to be the best song on the album and not without good reason. Shows off the "classic" NBA sound but is completely individualistic and stand-out from the rest of the album by not just taking the 2+2 formula of a verse a chorus another verse etc. Ridiculously catchy guitar riff and great lyrics that really compliment the singers voice. Probably the song that will be remembered whenever a discussion about the band be raised and easily the song where the musicians work best together - 9/10

9) Just friends - The only really straight forward love song on the album (apart from behind your eyes) and really could become a feel good hit. Harsh yet happy vocals accompany thundering bass in the verse and brilliantly realised harmonies in the chorus, this is the song that'll have fans pogo-ing in a moshpit or jumping around in front of the tv for the sheer kicks of it, excellent - 8/10

10) Everybody is - Another standard NBA song executed with utter style and brilliance. Disparate and chunky guitar riff in the verse with catchy harmonies in the chorus which utilises all the member's vocal abilities brilliant effect. Highly underrated and not really noted but really quite worth a listen - 8/10

11) Iron Cross - The closing song on the album is the polar opposite of the opening one, soft, gentle and almost beatle-esque. It is the second acoustic song on the album yet not really similar to behind your eyes despite this fact. The song, in contrast to B.Y.E, creates an almost country feel with the intelligent use of a bottle neck in the verse and is, in style, completely different to its other acoustic counter part. Though it doesn't give quite a striking impression as B.Y.E it is still a worthy and solid closing track for the album and worthy of your attention - 8/10

In short:

Guitar: 9/10 - raw and never overcomplicated but mindblowingly powerful all the same.

Drums: 7/10 - Fitting and effective but rather simple and sometimes uninteresting.

Bass: 9/10 - Hooky lines that provide a great melody and driving force for the rest of the band.

Vocals: 9/10 - Sam has a great voice but is never afraid to let off the occasional gut wrenching scream.

Production: 7/10 - The slick going over given to the sound doesn't justify how powerful they really are.

Overall score: 9/10 - A brilliant debut album that drips raw power. Beautifully realised and brilliantly excecuted; essential.