ROCK BRIGADE “S/T”

ROCK BRIGADE
“S/T”
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There is something old school to Rock Brigade, not only in the directness of the band’s name but also in their overall look. It made me think of Extreme and Mr Big. Bands that were big in the 80s mainly because they appealed to all the teenage girls with their good looking front men and sleazy hit ballads. If you looked beyond all the screaming girls (and it was very hard to do so) you’d find bands steeped in a very traditional hardrock sound. Do I have to tell you that I turned my back on Extreme and Mr Big once they had their big hit songs. Listening to Rock Brigade is like listening to Vanadium or Baron Rojo for the first time. It’s like stepping into uncharted territory simply because they don’t sing in English. What first started as a hardrock/heavy metal album soon turned into a more thrash oriented sound. All my Extreme/Mr Big associations were blown out the door and I started to think of Powermad instead. Once I did that I started to realise that the band’s look also could be applied to early Anthrax. Powermad too had a sound somewhere between hardrock/thrash. For some strange reason it works. It shouldn’t but it does. Rock Brigade might not attract too many screaming teenage girls but if they’re cool with old metalheads liking them then they’re set for life. Anders Ekdahl