I first heard of Koritni when a friend of mine who lived in France, came back to Belo Horizonte and showed me this awesome band he saw at Hellfest 2010 and told me they were better than some of the bigger boys out there.
The obvious has to be mentioned. Of course they sound like AC/DC. After all it’s an Australian hard-rock band (have I mentioned that before?). They are something like AC/DC meets G’n’R from the Appetite era and Axl’s gang of friends influence is more prominent in this album than it is in the first album Lady Luck (2007). Add some steroids and drama and you have Koritni!
The band is captained by the frontman-lead-singer Lex Koritni and the guitarist Eddie Santacreu who is responsible for some of the awesome solos on the album. Let’s do a track by track analysis.
155 – (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLtwFugudZE&feature=fvwrel click here first!) As you know, Australia uses the metric system so 155 is 155 km/h which is something like 96,3miles/h. Not very good for a song title. Heavy, fast, full of energy. When I first heard this tune I was aghast! Everything you would expect from a good rock band. Cool guitars, solid kitchen and a singer with a very distinct and powerful voice! Very good track to start a record.
Stab in the back – ZZ Top like riff with a smokey feeling towards the verse. You start to notice a trademark in the band: usually they add a dramatic bridge before or after the solos. This one is no different. This puts come heavy character in the compositions and gives a sense of surprise towards the record.
Roll the dice – Good track, exciting chorus and the solo is a TOTAL Slash rip-off in a good way. Honking Les Paul neck pickup through Marshall tone laying melodic and tasty hooks! One of my favourites!
V8 Fantasy – Not much to say. Uptempo, about cars. Not much to dislike about it!
You vs Me – It fooled me the first time. Kind of a hipster neo modern riff at the start but evolves to a melodic heavy semi ballad. Same dramatic encore that we all learn to love!
By my Side – Another uptempo one. Sounds like a Poison riff tuned down and develops to an exciting modern love song in a good way. Don’t be fooled by the words love song: this ain’t no ballad!
Deranged – One of the two bluesier songs. Excellent chorus and hooks!
Nobody’s Home – A fast song in A with a G-D-A progression! What’s not to like? Another killer solo!
Game of Fools – The album title track is there to start the end of the album. This is my favorite half the record and the one with the best songs! This one starts with a total AC/DC vibe and turns into a midtempo monster! Love it!
Keep me breathing – Completely innovative harmony for a hard rock band. Complex chords and a levely bluesy feel all over it perfect overture for the album’s epic song…
Tornado of Dreaming I and II – Divided in two parts this epic is one of my favorite track (actually it’s two tracks) and it starts as a HEAVY mid tempo depression song with a slapback solo that suits the vibe very well. It becomes as monster fast tempo frantic song with doubled vocals, insane solos and all you can ask from an epic song! Not Hammerfall or Avantasia epic but a Guns and Roses epic!
Devil’s daughter – Acoustic intro that turns into a dropped D beast! Love the lyrics, the guitars but no solo! Sad… But an excellent song to finish!
The production of the album is terrific. Anton Hagop did a very good job and Mike Fraser’s mixing (this guy has worked with a couple of big boys before) really makes the band shine. The guitars on this are very well recorded and the parts are very well written. Try listening to it with a nice set of headphones and you’ll be able to hear all the nuances, questions and answers and arrangements of the guitars. The vibe you get is PAF through high gain Marshalls and very tasty licks, fills and solos divided by Eddie Santacreu and Luke Cuerden.
DEFINETLY worth checking out.
Lex Koritni - vocals
Eddy Santacreu - guitars
Luke Cuerden - guitars
D. Matt Hunter - bass
Chris Brown – drums
http://www.koritni.com or http://www.myspace.com/koritni
I forget exactly how I came across this band and this album. I think I might have been clicking recommendations in iTunes, but I can't be certain. What I do remember is being floored by what I heard; songs with crunchy, greasy, exceptional fretboard work, a tight, grooving rhythm section and well-crafted lyrics!. Since then, this band has been consistently high on my favorites list. The album remains on my PDA after 6 years and gets a play at least once a week. The follow-up No More Bets suffers from weaker production and a couple of stop-gap live releases have helped maintain their social media footprint, but none of that detracts from this outstanding effort. They have a new release (Night Goes On For Days) that sees a return to the form they displayed on Game Of Fools, so I recommend that one, as well. If you're interested in Lex Koritni, you would do well to seek out tracks from Green Dollar Colour; a band he fronted back in 2005 that gave rise to what we're talking about here. Great review here, as well!
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