Kev Rowland

Four years on from their 2013 debut, Dutch band The Charm And The Fury are back with an angry record driven by a collective distaste for the state of the planet in the 21st Century. This is metal, straightforward brutal metal, obviously influenced by Pantera, driven by a female singer who has obviously been influenced by Angela Gossow more than she has by Doro, but can also sing sweetly when she wants to. The music comes at the listener like waves of heavy leaden slabs, but with loads of energy and passion, and a great deal of melody behind it. They may not be quite as poppy as The Wildhearts, but they have an instinctive understanding of what makes a song truly interesting and inviting.

There is a groove to this album that makes the body want to move, and a heaviness that makes the listener to keep wanting to push the volume up to 11. Drummer Mathijs Tieken is one of the most exciting talents I have heard in some time, and he drives the band forward with strong double bass drums when the mood is right, but also understand the need for restraint and adds to the overall sound by being punishing when he needs to be, but also provides the light to really demonstrate the shade.

The rest of the guys lock into that power, and combine to produce a metallic monster that many singers would fail in front of, but Caroline Westendorp is more than capable of taking this in her stride. The result is a modern metallic masterpiece, and if these guys can reproduce this on the live stage then they must be a band worth seeing.