Concert Review: SpiralArms and Scorpion Child

Retro rock seems to be the thing of the hour at the moment, new, talented bands are constantly appearing on the scene. The two bands I saw live yesterday are not only talented, but simply great: «Spiral Arms" and "Scorpion Child«! Anyone who loved "Alice In Chains", "Soundgarden", "Black Sabbath" or "Led Zeppelin" two decades ago will "Spiral Arms" love! The sextet from California has a mission. The goal is to save today's music scene by promoting honest hard melodic rock. «Scorpion Child» are young newcomers who presented their self-titled debut six months ago. The Texans are wild and impetuous, present themselves as rock'n'roll posers in front of the gentlemen and do action-packed action on stage throughout the performance, provided that the somewhat limited space in the Hirscheneck in Basel allows it. A great evening with great bands in a location that, despite its modest size, delivered a full and hip sound, so that it was just fun to be part of these performances.

Joining Scorpion Child on their European headlining tour are SpiralArms, who have some metal cred in Craig Locicero and Tim Narducci. "SpiralArms" were formed in 2004 from the ashes of bands like "Systematic", "Man Made God" or the Bay Area veterans "Forbidden". The sextet around the two founding members and childhood friends Tim Narducci and Craig Locicero has about as much to do with their trash metal as China has with democratic elections. The American sextet is the epitome of a rock group that mixes tradition with modernity and fires off a firework of fabulous rock songs on their second album «Freedom». The guys offer a firework of melodic and desert rock with strong guitar riffs, gripping hooks and singing that goes through your bones. "SpiralArms" grabs the audience by the balls! Inevitably, memories of bands like «Alice In Chains», «Black Sabbath» or «Led Zeppelin» come up and many others have tried their hand at this legacy before, but nobody has managed to do it so authentically and at the same time fresh and modern for a long time sound like «SpiralArms».

SpiralArms - Dropping Like Flies (Official)

If you search for "SpiralArms" on Wikipedia, you will find a detailed explanation for the gaseous arms of galaxies of the same name, but nothing about the band from California. But that will surely change soon because this concert literally blew me away. The songs are reminiscent of the really great rock songs of the past, yet the band manages to sound surprisingly fresh and modern. Gorgeous full-fat guitars, to which the distinctive voice of Tim Narducci - a mixture of Chris Cornell and Axl Rose - fits like a glove. The Hirscheneck is turned into kindling that evening with songs like "Dropping Like Flies", "Hold Me To The Sky" and with "Lovers Leap" a ballad with sighing guitar comes into play, an ingenious mixture of pain and energy, which far away from the usual ballad of quotas. At the end of the gig «SpiralArms» shake a Black Sabbath cover with «Tomorrow's Dream» that sounds almost better than the original. Majestic guitar riffs, hooks that will grab you by the balls, a recognizable singer and grooves that will make any polished head bang. My face, what a great, but rather short performance!

Without much ado, «Scorpion Child» enter the stage, plug in their instruments and start playing like there's no tomorrow. They got straight into it with «Kings Highway» and immediately followed up with the catchy «Polygon Of Eyes». Singer Aryn Jonathan Black had everything under control and the guys rocked so fat, sprayed the vibe of early «Led Zeppelin» or «Grand Funk» and immediately went into the leg and the neck muscles. The five gentlemen went wild on the stage and, despite the limited space, gave it their all. The focus of the show was frontman Aryn Jonathan Black, who reminds a little of Robert Plant with his voice. He was constantly bouncing, squirming, and playing his mic skillfully. Visually and stylistically, a lot is reminiscent of «Led Zeppelin», including sprawling psychedelic jam passages with wafting echo devices and feedback effects. The band was celebrated really well in Hirscheneck and the show, which was trimmed to exaggeratedly pig rock, caught fire with me too. Titles like "Polygon Of Eyes" or "The Secret Spot" didn't fail to have an effect and made the audience cheer again and again. Later in the set the guys slowed down a bit and did some spacey excursions. At times they were even reminiscent of very early «Scorpions» before stepping on the accelerator again.

The two guitarists Christopher Jay Coward and Tom Frank roast down a hellish sound with their guitars that only knows one direction, forward. Unfortunately, this did not come out of the speakers in a completely differentiated way from time to time, so that the singing was lost. But somehow that didn't really bother anyone with the mangy riffs, one was captured by the enormous power. While Frank kept slipping his foot over his effects pedal in the quiet passages and he got all sorts of weird sounds out of his Gibson SG, Coward played one cool, wide-legged riff after the other on his Les Paul. The two complement each other perfectly, even if they are completely different in terms of appearance. Frank looked a little wacky with his Afro and thick sideburns. His guitar posture, which was more reminiscent of caresses, contributed to the picture. His partner preferred to be the cool rock star and unpack all imaginable poses. Behind them, Shawn Alvear ruthlessly pounded his kit, knocking out one or the other gaudy arrangement.

SCORPION CHILD - Polygon of Eyes (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

A hook is a musical idea or short riff, passage, or phrase that catches the listener's ear. Some bands have them, most don't, but these two bands tonight have them and they do it en masse! «SpiralArms», the sextet from California, and «Scorpion Child», the quintet from Texas are thoroughbred musicians who play bombastic rock and both bands played with pressure, joy and vigour. The audience's initial reluctance quickly subsided and the bands' stage presence was simply great. The downer was the short playing time of «SpiralArms», but at least it was enough to completely sweat through his clothes in just under 45 minutes. Musically, «The Child» come from everywhere, their songwriting simply knocks your socks off and their stage presence rocks the house. I used to think I was «born too late» and would have liked to experience the era of rock music in the 70s up close, but when I look at these bands tonight, it doesn't have to be anymore, because such hungry bands who follow the old Paying homage to sound with body and soul are simply overwhelming. Have a great evening, in a harmonious atmosphere, like the guys from SpiralArms noted:

Playing Way underground in Basel, Switzerland at the Hirshineck. Cool venue with a stairway to Hell !!!

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