Scorpion child is:
- Aryn Jonathan Black – Vocals
- Christopher Jay Cowart – Lead Guitar
- Jon “The Charn” Rice – Drum
- Alec “Mexecutioner” Padron – Bass
- Aaron John Vincent – Keyboards
It’s clear that Christopher Jay Cowart has a man crush on Jimmie page, and to be honest everyone should, so well done Jay. Add to this the fact that Aryn Jonathan Black wails with a very Robert Planty tone and range it is inevitable they are going to get compared to Led Zeppelin. To say Scorpion Child is a Zeppelin clone however would be way off target. In fact, many times Aryn and company conjured up images of Foghat, Sabbath, and even Billy Squire. Listening to King’s Highway off the first record I could actually hear Billy Squire singing the song. The band has been called heavy metal, Krautrock, and psychedelic rock
But on to Acid Roulette. The first single My Woman in Black is not going to cure the comparisons to Led Zeppelin but if you listen closely the song sounds more like a band from 1987 time traveled back to 1971 and used their powerful knowledge of the future to make better ‘70’s style music. My Woman in Black is a standout song and worthy of a release. The band record their first self-titled record fully on analog tape, and every time I listen to My Woman in Black I’m certain this is as well. But I don’t know for sure. If you do, put it in the comments below!
Reaper’s Danse is the next release and it is a heavier song in terms of structure than My Woman in Black. In fact, if we are going to continue comparing this music to ‘70’s bands Reaper’s Danse sounds more like a lost Black Sabbath song than anything from Zeppelin.
Instead of going through each song on the record and telling you why I liked it, which I did. There isn’t a bad song on the album, I’ll tell you about my favorite. Moon Tension has the bombastic huge chorus of a ‘70’s hard rock band with an amazing low-fi sound that takes this band out of time more than anything I have heard from them. This song could be a reimagined lost single from a Dio era Sabbath record, and I don’t mean this song is trying to rip off any sound but rather embodying the spirit of that time. I think that is a much better description of Scorpion Child. Embodying the spirit of ‘70s rock without plagiarizing specific groups from that time.
That being said what I need more of from the band is a mixing up of their influences and allowing their own voices to shine through their experiences. The alchemy of an internal voice and outside influences can be incredibly hard. The mixture may never be right and one overshadows the other or creates a dissonance that never resolves. Scorpion Child is a really good band, and I think they might have the makings of a great one. If they can mix themselves in more with their influences they are going to surprise a lot of people.
I give Scorpion Child’s Acid Roulette a B. It’s a strong B though and if their growth between their first album and this one is any indication of what’s to come album #3 is going to blow me away.
ORDER THE ALBUM AT:
Nuclear Blast: http://smarturl.it/scorpionchild
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/scorpchild-st-itunes
Amazon (CD): http://smarturl.it/scorpchild-st-amz
Amazon (VINYL): http://smarturl.it/scorpchild-amz-vinyl