Cleopatrick "Bummer" Album Cover, Bandcamp (Gregor Ivanov, CMRU.ca)
“the new rock mafia is a collective centered around the development, distribution, and defense of real guitar music.
it was created as a means to cultivate a new era culture around young artists and listeners that share common values of honesty, inclusivity and escapism.
the new rock mafia exists out of necessity. it’s a sword and shield; destined to establish and protect a new scene for a new generation of guitar bands.” === CLEOPATRICK ONLINE
Cleopatrick are a two-piece rock band based out of Cobourg, Ontario. They have been best friends since they were kids and have always shared a passion of music with each other. They bring a gritty, crunching, loud tone to their music. Because they’re a two piece- this causes their guitarist/lead-singer, Luke Gruntz, to add multiple guitar effects and amp channels to achieve a sound that is able to fill a room and create tone changes throughout the band’s tracks.
The first track “Victoria Park” exemplifies this perfectly with a cranked-up guitar running a bass channel, with heavy emphasis on crash cymbals during the chorus of the song to bring together a head banging tune altogether.
The head banging vibe doesn’t just stop all of a sudden though, tracks 2-5 also provide melodic riffs with emphasis on big distortion and tone changes that surprise people that it’s just a two-piece providing so much variety and noise. The first five tracks are perfect for getting a rush of adrenaline before it starts to slow done each track.
“Why July” starts off as a slower alternative song showing off more off a clean tone from the band and the vocal range of Gruntz. It leads the listener with a lyrical thought about the singers past experience with friends in their small town, giving more of a personal story before ending the song off with a distorted interlude that leads into the band’s transition song “Ya”.
“Pepper’s Ghost” has the same vibe as “Why July”. Starting off with a personal anecdote before providing loud guitar with angry emotion driven into it, displaying more of the frustration and angry meanings within the lyrics.
“2008” is a very impressive add to the album. It shows off their full range and the emotion this album can reach. The track is just Gruntz’s vocals and his guitar. The emotion added to this song causes listeners to connect to wishing about the old days and when everything was easier. It adds to a rollercoaster of adrenaline mixed with a track full of sadness.
All in all, the album is a perfect representation of how the new rock wave should be. Where the listener can have songs that they can jam out to and be able to enjoy a song that is filled with songs about frustration and anger. This two-piece adds elements of rock that can also relate to an audience and get brought in on this journey of emotion. This album is one of my favourite listens and is an easy 10/10.
Comments