Often we’ll hear bands exclaim:  “We don’t sound like anyone. Our sound is totally original.” Some of that is pure hype, but some of it is reflected in the genre tags some bands use on their music platforms. However that claim is pretty ridiculous and naturally begs the question: how many genres and subgenres of rock and metal can there be? Carrier, a brand new band launched by Franz Herde, the former singer of Sieges Even, don’t have that problem.

The band’s most recent album release, entitled “Red Corner” is about proudly wearing your influences on your sleeve. If you don’t hear Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth, and a whole handful of other legendary bands, you either never listened to any music by these bands, or you’ve never listened to a Carrier record before.

Just play the opening track “Grimoire of Death” and you’ll hear the raw crunchy guitars coming through your speakers in a bold, rhythmic, and hard-rocking way. Add to that Franz Herde’s angular tenor vocals slicing through the racing drums and the equation for driving classic metal and hard-rock is quickly drawn.

The foundation of the band is anchored by Chris Techritz’s bone-crushing guitars and driving basslines by Sebastian Valek — who bring their own spice and busy work into the mix. It all works gloriously, especially for those who feel that classic metal and hard rock was on the ropes.

It’s not that this kind of music has gone out of favor when it comes to legacy acts. It’s just that it’s been a while since a new band like Carrier has come through. Their songs are tight, the tempos are upbeat and energetic, and the lyrical content is never murky.

“Roadkill” comes blasting out of blocks and is catchy as hell. Thundering drums and explosive riffs underscore the vocals which deliver with road-tested intensity. It’s all wonderfully relentless.

The sound of Carrier comes directly from the golden era of vinyl. Warm, robust and extremely resonant. And it is heard in all its glory on “One by One”. Chock full of amazing licks, aggressive but melodic vocals, and from the heart lyrics, the song is powered by an incredibly solid backbeat and a swaying groove. “Rape” makes sure the momentum of the album doesn’t let up. Laden with grit and grind, the song is filled with skilled guitar work and earth shattering vocal motifs.

The band’s enthusiasm throughout the album shows how passionate they are about performing these songs. “Hold My Hand” takes off like a runaway train, and leads to some serious shredding and more kickass rhythm.

By this time Carrier are on fire, and when they launch into the album closer, “War”, all hell breaks loose. The track quickly ignites with the ferocious organic tenacity that only the best metal bands have truly mastered. The swell of instrumentation battles with the roaring vocals in a head to head fight. Catapulting nothing but passion, skill, and zeal onto the listener.

Overall, Carrier is not a copycat band.  They are just really good at taking everything you love about classic metal and hard rock bands, and somehow make it their very own. Each song on “Red Corner” is well written, catchy, and easy to connect with.

There’s a timeless quality to this album, which could have come out at any time during the past 50 years and would still have sounded completely natural. In 2021, metal doesn’t get any more classic-sounding than Carrier!

OFFICIAL LINKS: SPOTIFY

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