Review by Andy hawes for MPM
I’ve often said that one of the joys of being a reviewer for Metal Planet is that occasionally one gets sent an album by an artist that one has no prior experience of and that opportunity to discover new and high quality music really is a joy.
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Kurt Deimer is certainly in that category for me. I’d never heard a thing about him until a link to his debut full-length album And So It Begins landed in my inbox. I was certainly intrigued, even more so when I discovered that the album has been co-written with current Bon Jovi guitar wizard, the absolutely amazing Phil X.
I always like to have a couple of listens through before attempting to review anything and was very interested to hear what this would sound like, so I pushed ‘play’ and settled down to listen…
Essentially, this is a big hard rocking record. It has an absolutely huge sound, with Phil X’s stupendous riffs and solos front and centre throughout. He brings these songs alive in quite spectacular fashion and this partnership is one that Kurt Deimer would do well to continue, as he and Phil X do seem to bring the best out of each other.
As for Deimer himself, well, he’s an interesting character. He certainly does not have the classic hard rock voice. When we think of hard rock vocalists, we tend to think of tenor range singers with a mightily impressive high range to scream up and over the high-octane guitar riffing. However, that’s not what’s going on here. Deimer’s voice is in a far lower register, probably more baritone in scope and there is certainly no stratospheric screaming. He also does a fair bit of ‘talk-singing’. Now, normally this would be a proper turn-off for me, as it’s not a style I can warm to at all. I’m a huge fan of melody in my music, so Rap Metal or any kind of spoken word in music tends to leave me cold. So it was a real surprise to find that I genuinely enjoyed the tracks where Deimer takes that approach here.
And So It Begins opens with ‘Dance’ which is an uptempo modern hard rocker chock full of explosive guitar riffing and Deimer’s infectious vocal melodies. It’s a strong opener with enough hooks to make repeated plays essential and is a big, bold and brash statement of intent. It is followed by ‘Naive’ which is the first of the ‘talk-singing’ tracks. Here Deimer’s spoken word vocal sits atop chunky and slightly atonal modern hard rock riffing before the requisite big chorus scythes in on an ocean of layered guitars. It’s different and really works. The combination of spoken word verses and sung choruses lifting it above the ordinary with the aid of Phil X’s swathes of guitar.
‘Burn Together’ swoops in on an almost harpsichord-esque intro, with Deimer’s unique and rich low-register vocal supported by the great Geoff ‘Queensryche’ Tate! Their vocals work very well together on this as Tate has the crazy high range to complement Deimer’s lower range delivery. Phil X orchestrates his guitars wonderfully here – great production and arrangement by Chris Lord-Alge!
‘Back of the School’ has a very funky blues-rock guitar vibe with another spoken word vocal in the verses before the melodies kick in for a huge chorus, with more exquisite guitar layers and a great solo while ‘Only Time Will Tell’ is a mid-paced groover with a sludgy guitar riff and another hooky modern hard rock chorus. You certainly can’t accuse Deimer of being a one-trick pony here as there is variety galore across these opening tracks while retaining exactly the right amount of cohesion in the sound. This is further accentuated by ‘Look’ which has a punky intro and a quite left-field verse with more spoken lyrics over the verses and a chorus straight out of the early 2000s.
‘Hero’ returns to the kind of sound from the opening number being a huge and melodic hard rocker with all sorts of hooklines floating around the arrangement in the finest stadium rock tradition. ‘Fight’ follows in a similar vein with a particularly huge chorus hook which feels even bigger after the spoken verses. Phil X moves from funky chopping guitars to huge power chords and back again throughout this one adding further interest to the arrangement. The guitars on this one are my favourites from the entire album. Well played, Mr X!
‘Live or Die’ is modern hard rock of the highest order with some crunching riffs, massive chorus hooks and quite delightful lead guitars. The chorus kind of reminds me of what an unholy union of Def Leppard and Daughtry might sound like! Next up is ‘Peaceful Stranger’ which sounds like something out of a spaghetti western movie with almost Pink Floyd style vocals before the big rock chorus and an almost Sabbath-esque riff. It’s an unexpected development in the album’s sound but is oddly compelling. Different for sure, but somehow fits the vibe of the album perfectly.
‘Sunset Blvd’ sees a return to the straight-ahead big hard rock sound before the acoustic-led ‘My Dad’. The opening verses of this one are the only time where the vocals don’t quite work for me – they sound very exposed and quite weak against the gentle acoustic guitar, but you can’t argue with the quality of the writing and the song builds quite beautifully, the vocals lifting nicely into the heartfelt chorus. Beautifully written song!
‘Big Toe’ is a mid-tempo modern rocker with some abrasive guitar chords and atonal riffing while ‘Doom’ piles on the huge power chord riffs and subtle melodies and a hugely heavy chorus. ‘How Did I Get Here’ has a slightly bluesy acoustic vibe which is the perfect break from the crunching hard rock and is perfectly placed in the running order before ‘Cigar’ returns us to the big rock sound with huge solos and a cinematic vibe. Deimer’s vocal sounds oddly menacing on this one, especially where it is more exposed against the more open sounding verse production, but the big chorus isn’t far away. The production is superb on this one with great use of keyboards and guitar dynamics
Well, that was a bit of a marathon! At 17 songs, it’s probably a tad overlong, but that aside, there is a helluva lot to be very positive about here. Kurt Deimer has a unique voice which he uses to good effect on the vast majority of these tracks. Also, his writing partnership with Phil X is quite something and the guitar work of the latter is excellent on these tracks as you’d expect. There are plenty of great hooklines here giving plenty of reasons for repeat plays and the production is fabulous – it sounds fabulous throughout – and the arrangements are bang on the money, being intelligent, well-thought-out and making great use of dynamics and indeed of Phil X’s mastery of the guitar and his ability to play a wide range of styles. There is variety and yet also cohesion – not an easy thing to achieve! Kurt Deimer should be justly proud of this release. It has plenty to offer the hard rock fan!
So, if you are a modern hard rock fan and fancy something a little bit different but at the same time something familiar enough, then I have no hesitation in recommending this album. I suspect that this isn’t the last we’ll hear of Kurt Deimer! Give it a whirl. You might be very pleasantly surprised!
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