The first in a series of album reviews begins with ‘What I have Found Is Already Lost’ from Firekind.

Fusing epic soaring vocal and guitar melodies with driving, powerful drums and bass, the band consists of brothers Jas (a Seth Baccus Guitars Official Artist), Dan Morris (bass) and Robin Shute (drums). With hard rock and prog roots spiced with an arena sound blent in, it’s hard to pigeon hole them which bodes to a myriad of rock tastes across modern genres.

I have to admit that I only became aware of Firekind in November 2020 when I watched the NWOCR Webfest 4 and they were one of the many bands playing sets.

The album opens with the track Adrenalin which comes across as a Muse-esque type of song, although I must admit I’m not really keen on comparing bands to other bands. Then the chorus kicks in sung impeccably by Jas Morris, which has you nodding your head thinking this guy can sing as well as he plays guitar.

Rise Again opens with a thumping of drums and a bass line that has you strumming along with it. It’s a song you can imagine being played live on a big stage with epic lighting, a feel good song and crowd pleaser.

Instantly recognisable from the opening guitar notes, Sound of Rain is another display of the great vocals of Jas and the instruments blend together through the rise and falls of the song in perfect unison.

If There’s Any Reason is a deep and thorough journey into relationship breakdown and personally hits home hard. The perfectly entwined drums and bass meander throughout the song and the haunting vocals float along effortlessly.

The most recent single, at the time of writing, Cry For Help could be considered as one of the greatest songs on the album but it really is difficult to single out one because they are all as good! The guitar almost sends shivers down your spine during the verses with the beautiful and minimalist approach, while the singing is sublime backed up by impeccable drums and bassline.

Defend opens with some thumping drums and great guitars before the vocals kick in and relentlessly have your toes tapping while you simultaneously play air guitar.

Coming Out Alive begins with the haunting and touching vocals of Jas and his guitar before the beautiful build up into the chorus which is stunning. A personnal favourite on the album that focuses on the recovery of oneself after the pain of a death. The guitar solo midway through the song is exquisite and followed by the most perfect vocals before the build-up of the chorus and genuinely is a spine tingler of a song. And as if the mid song solo wasn’t enough the ending is stunning with a finger blurring solo that drifts away into nothing.

No Stone Unturned is the perfect song after the epic Coming Out Alive with a more laid back feel gently easing us into the song as it builds proving that as well as anthemic type songs Firekind are a band who can offer a wide range of song styles.

These Are The Thoughts is a faster number with the drums and guitars tumbling along beside the vocals as it leads us onto the title track from the album What I Have Found Is Already Lost. The vocals begin light and soft and the subdued instruments perfectly match only building for the chorus in a glorious melting pot of vocal and musical joy.

The next track is It’s Not Over and the catchy drum beat echoes throughout the song as it turns it up a notch for the chorus while the vocals flow perfectly. This is another great song on the album where there are most definately no songs that are simply making up the numbers, they are all on the album for the reason that they are great, catchy and truly worthy songs.

The acoustic versions of songs for ‘Sound of Rain‘ and ‘It’s Not Over‘ are pleasantly good, sometimes you can get a feeling that an acoustic version just doesn’t feel right but these featuring just Jas and his acoustic guitar work very well. His voice perfectly blends with the unsurprisingly crisp and clear guitar considering he was a winner of Guitarist of The Year in 2003 and International Guitar Idol Finalist in 2008!

To close the album Have I Been Living is another great example of beautiful sung vocals simply embellished with the sound of an acoustic guitar.

Rating

An album debut that has a beautiful mix of well written and performed songs where the vocals and music combine to create memorable songs that’ll have you coming back for more again and again. The songs scream out to be played in a live environment in front of an audience who will without doubt love every minute. If you haven’t got it, get and if you have, well good!

Excell Rocks

9/10