Heavy Song of the Week is a Heavy Consequence feature that breaks down the best metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, the title song is “(Hold On) To The Dream” by Sebastian Bach.
Rumors about Sebastian Bach reuniting with Skid Row have been percolating lately, mainly due to the departure of the band's singer Erik Grönwall and comments made by Baz himself.
However, Bach is immersed in his most active recording cycle in years, with the release of his new solo LP. Child inside the man Just around the corner. The album’s latest single, “(Hold On) To the Dream,” is intriguing on multiple fronts.
Firstly, the song title and lyrics could apply to Sebastian's desire to rejoin his old band, which reached its commercial peak with Bach at the helm. Second, the track could serve as a de facto test for Skid Row. His voice sounds incredible here, especially during the song’s powerful ballad intro, which has shades of “18 and Life.”
“For those of you keeping score, I can tell you that my voice hits some of the highest notes of my career on '(Hold On) To The Dream!'” he enthused in the song's press release.
Finally, and as a counterpoint, the song is so strong (a perfect combination of powerful heavy metal and elegant AOR melodies) that it raises the question of whether Sebastian would make a lateral move by changing his current musical accomplices. This might be his best solo song to date.
Honorable mentions:
Darkthrone – “The Bird People of Nordland”
In their latest era, Darkthrone have become a master of connecting riffs and letting repetition carry the arrangement. It's pure heavy metal at its core, and “The Bird People of Nordland” is another masterclass in riff selection and restraint. The song also contains Fenriz's favorite part of the new Darkthrone album: the minor post-chorus riff of Nocturno Culto, which “sounds like Queensrÿche 1984 style,” in Fenriz's own words.
“And you can also hear how much we enjoyed playing it!” he added. “EXACTLY where I want to be! I could have played that riff for 8 minutes straight, haha!”
Loose feat hit. Poppy – “Suffocation”
“Suffocate” is Knocked Loose at their most experimental, with the band's typical explosive harshness colliding with more danceable rhythms and an addictive reggaeton bounce that works wonderfully in the context of hardcore. Meanwhile, Poppy's musical fingerprints are all over it, making his contributions feel more collaborative than just a guest vocal.
Pallbearer – “Endless Place”
The acoustic intro to “Endless Place” immediately evokes the first Pallbearer song many of us heard: “Foreigner” from their debut. Pain and extinction. Like that epic first LP, “Endless Place” also explodes into crushing doom with satiating payoff. As we heard on Pallbearer's previous single, “Where the Light Fades,” Brett Campbell's epic vocals remain direct and emphasized; However, those who were disappointed by the subdued sound of that song will be relieved to hear Pallbearer deliver the heavy doom on the next single.
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