Riffless - 2024 - Ghost Is a Woman

(15:43; M&O Music)






















Track list:
1. I Won't Start a Fight 3:50
2. Ghost Is a Woman 4:03
3. I Don't Feel Like Not Dancing 3:36
4. Scaring Myself 4:14

Line-up:
Ben Patigny - vocals
JP Devox - guitars, vocals
Vincent Fis - guitars
Jean-Philippe Dirix - bass
Marcus Weymaere - drums
with:
Didier Dessers - piano, strings


Belgian band Riffless was formed back in 2020, and self-released their debut album two years after the official band formation. I understand that this first outing by the band was given a positive reception, which presumably is why the band is now attached to a label. This spring Riffless are back with four new songs that have been released as the EP "Ghost Is a Woman" through French label M&O Music.

While the band name does suggest otherwise, this is an EP that is filled with quite a lot of guitar riffs. In this case by a band that by and large stays away from the classic metal territories though, and that instead have chosen hard rock as their specific playground.

The slightly raspy and high-pitched lead vocals is something of a dominant element throughout here, and will probably be a little bit of a divisive element. Tone and timbre control is excellent throughout, so on technical merit there is nothing to fault in this department, but having vocals with a tone and timbre that is a tad unusual is a feature that comes with positives and negatives alike. If you can imagine a vocalist that is a blend between Brian Johnson and W. Axl Rose you should have a pretty good notion about what the vocal presence sounds like in this case.

Musically this is a band that mix and blend elements from classic 70s hard rock with a little bit of an 80s style flavoring. The good, old blues based hard rock is explored, and driving, dominant basslines are indeed very much in use and at play. The dirtier aspects of the hard rock explored by a band such as Guns 'n Roses is featured a little bit too, especially in terms of harmony guitar overlays and some of the guitar solo runs, and there's room for a little bit of a hair metal spice too. But fans of classic bands such as Led Zeppelin will probably encounter some familiar sounding elements too. Strong grooves and driving, energetic hard rock is the name of the game here, of course with the one token song that explore the band's more sensitive side present too.

If 70s and 80s hard rock that draw heavily upon the US variety of these traditions is music you tend to enjoy, then this is an EP that should give you plenty of joy, especially if you find the bands that mix elements from both of these decades to be more interesting than the ones that are more narrow in their retro-oriented exploits. A tasteful example of energetic hard rock with a more distinct presence in the lead vocal department.

Olav M. Björnsen, April 2024

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Rifflessofficial
https://www.m-o-music.com/

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