Shaman's Harvest - Smokin' Hearts & Broken Guns - The Review
The album that almost was never going to be completed; the band vocalist Nathan Hunt was diagnosed with throat cancer at the start of the recording process and one could have really feared the worst. Instead, this thunderous rock band from Jefferson City, Missouri, releases possibly their best album to date, a true labour of love and determination.
"Dangerous" and "Here It Comes" are a powerful one-two that open the album; fist-pumping anthemic tracks, full-charged rock tracks permeated of guitar solos that many wah-wah effect lovers will particularly like.
The record, lyrically, is very intense, emotionally speaking; one can wonder whether this was unconsciously motivated by the unfortunate news concerning the band vocalist and his health. Still, though, the band finds his own sound, often diversifying their powerful boombastic trademark sound through strong ballads such as "The End Of Me" and "In The End" or through country-fried blues numbers such as "Country As F**k," without risking to fall into the overcrowded rock-cookie-cut factory that tents to offer the same old music product over and over again.
"Silent Voice" is the most poignant moment of the album, both lyrically and musically and the best prelude to the beautifully executed acoustic version of Dragonfly, an old hit of the band back in 2009.
One of the best rock albums released in 2014, and the album of maturity for Shaman's Harvest, it is a very welcomed return from a band that really plays and sings from the heart.
You can listen/view their single, Dangerous here.
About Our Author: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato is Italian music writer, who has been living in UK since 2002. With an enormous passion for music, and life in general, his interest in the communications began at 11 years old. He worked briefly for local radios in his youth and did a one-off radio show on 2007 on the glorious BBC 6 Music Radio station. Gio started his freelance journalist career in 2012, with Italian artists, and is now mainly focusing on blues artists. To follow Gio Pilato and his all cool radio show, Visit: (RTL 102.5 Cool (Webradio)): http://www.rtl.it/Cool
