Scream Arena are a straight shooting hard rock band out of York, England. They have a solid and consistent sound and in it I hear the influences of many great rock and metal acts like Dokken, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, ACDC and at times even Iron Maiden. Yet they have been able to secure a style of their own within a country that’s so very rich with rock n’ roll history.
I have to admit that, on the first listen, I wasn’t particularly taken by Scream Arena’s self-titled debut. The music didn’t immediately grab me the way it has with other bands of late. Perhaps they just sounded a little too common. But on giving the album a second pass I found that I suddenly “got” it, and now I quite enjoy most of the tracks. “The Price of Love”, with it’s smooth and steady pulse, is a great song to cruise down the highway to. I love the rhythm of this song, and it has a real rock-radio familiarity to it. “House of Pain” has a very dynamic arrangement and I love the deep and growling choruses. I can take or leave their cover of “Heartbreak Hotel”. It’s not badly done but perhaps I just don’t see the relevance of it. The verses in “Another Night in London Town” are distractingly similar to Triumph’s “Magic Power”, which is a shame because I think the lyrics tell an interesting tale. “Forever” is a great track, perhaps the best one on the album.
Musicianship is strong on this release. The guitar work is great and the rhythm section is solid. It took me a bit to warm up to Andy Paul’s vocal style. There’s not a whole lot of range there, but it grows on you. He’s more of a blues vocalist with a raspy voice that, at times, talks to you more than sings. He’s not unlike Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits in that respect, although the timber of his voice could be compared to Alice Cooper’s (Cooper has a much wider range though).
A few hits, a few misses, but all-in-all not a bad album. I’m glad I gave it a second try. If you’re a fan of classic hard rock I encourage you to give Scream Arena a listen.
Richard Leggatt, HMS
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