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Album Reviews : Not Like Horse – Not Like Horse

By on January 17, 2013

299909_196355123761240_4999676_nSydney’s Not Like Horse have set themselves a goal of conquering the heavy rock/metal scene here in Australia. Armed with an already impressive live reputation in their hometown, along with the release of their debut EP last year and scoring themselves 3 songs in last year’s HEAVY Magazine’s top 50 as a result. It seems at least that the band is well and truly on the path to reaching this goal.

The tongue firmly in cheek opening track “Root or Fight” starts the EP promising enough and while the lyrics and feel of the track may not pull you in straight away, after a few spins it all starts to click in to place and the hook to this song, trust me, will be stuck in your head for a while to come. “Dipping Bird” on the other hand is a track that instantly stands out; the song may be a bit darker and more up tempo than the previous track but it sure possesses one hell of a chorus.

The track “Bolivian” continues to show this darker side of the band, with the exception of maybe the track’s intro which has an almost System of a Down styled ‘bounce’ to it before returning to the nitty gritty that the band seems to do best.

It’s easy to see the band has a sense of humour exhibited in the name of the band and track titles at the very least, and the track “Slay the Emo’s” is no exception. The song itself is driven by some huge sounding guitars and a powerful drum beat. Vocally singer/guitarist Bob Farleigh has a style that sounds like a bastard child of John Baizley (Baroness) and Paige Hamilton’s (Helmet) vocals with an abundance of attitude thrown in for good measure.

The slow building, yet dynamic closing track “The Wash” showcases a completely and altogether different side of the band and is a clear highlight on the EP. The song is much slower in terms of tempo compared to the other songs, but it’s the dynamics between the verses and the huge sing-a-long chorus that really makes this track stand out.

Not Like Horse, interesting band name, but does the band live up to and hold this level of interest for the listener with the material presented on their debut EP? The answer in short is, well, yes. The production is great, which considering it is a locally produced/self funded affair adds even more weight to this. The songs themselves offer more than enough to keep the casual listener engaged also. The only real criticism of the band, well for this reviewer at least, may come in the form of the lyric department, as some sections of lyrics are seemingly more thrown together than thought out. This of course is all subjective and can be easily forgiven considering the quality of music on offer and the fact that their debut EP was released not long after the formation of the band. One thing is for sure though, if Not Like Horse continue along the path set before them in their debut EP and improve/expand on it in future releases, I can see no reason as to why they would not become favourites of heavy music fans not just in Sydney, but Australia wide in years to come.

Band: Not Like Horse
Album: Not Like Horse
Year: 2012
Genre: Heavy rock/metal
Label: Independent
Origin: Sydney, Australia
www.facebook.com/notlikehorseband

Track list:
1. Root or Fight
2. Dipping Bird
3. Bolivian
4. Slay the Emo’s
5. The Wash

About

In his spare time, between being a slave to the grind, contributing to MetalObsession.net and hitting up as many local/international gigs as possible. Gareth also contributes to Dutch based metal-zine MetalRage.com, books the odd show under the Inherit Earth moniker and plays drums for Sydney-based bands Whisky Smile and Swamp Harlot.