Gravelroad
Shot The Devil
visit Gravelroad's website
– Uncle Larry’s Records
also available on cd baby
This three piece band is dominated by drum pounding, fuzzy distorted guitars, and a throbbing bass, with a lead singer who seems to be doing his best imitation of what a gravel road would sound like if it could sing. They say their influences are Junior Kimbrough, RL Burnside and T-Model Ford those bluesmen of the trance blues of the north hill country and juke joints of Mississippi. Their music does draw from similar roots, but the fact that they try to dominate with sheer power of sound, achieved by pure volume, does not do them credit. It isn’t until the fourth cut that they turn down the power and give you a chance to breathe and hear yourself think; but then on the next cut we are right back to the same pounding sound. Many became fans of that North Mississippi sound, and its trance inducing hypnotic power, after catching some of the
performers at Jazz Fest in the 90’s, but this band adds a heavy metal touch of power to the music, that seems to carry it over an edge. This is one of those discs that has a couple of songs on it that are very good and show the abilities of the group without relying on sheer volume though most of it goes over the top. Just looking at the credits says a lot about the group; Stefan Zilloux (guitar, vocals, grit), Martin Reinsel (drums, hollers, hair), and J. ‘Kirby’ Newman (bass, guitar, devious plans). If they can control their power they can do some good music, so there is hope here.