US based band HEAVEN & EARTH have been around for a good number of years by now, officially formed back in 1996. The debut album appeared in 1998, a follow up came in 2000, and then an EP in 2004. Then the band went quitet for a good number of years, until they returned with their third studio production “Dig” at the start of 2013.
Heaven & Earth as of 2013 is a new band as far as the majority of the line-up is concerned, and they explore a familiar branch of music with roots going back to the 1970’s. Classic rock or perhaps classic hard rock is arguably the best manner in which to describe the landscapes explored, and while they have opted for a contemporary sounding mix and production the roots and foundations of their music is fairly easy to track down.
This is music defined by a driving bass on top of steady rhythms, sporting fairly compact organ and guitar based themes supporting a powerful, melodic lead vocalist of the kind that can ease his way through a clean delivery with dramatic delivery in the ballad oriented songs just as easy as applying a slightly raspy delivery for the compositions that has more of an uptempo and spirited atmosphere to them. There’s always room for some sweet extra details from both guitar and organ here too, and the band aren’t strangers as far as crafting rich, majestic arrangements go either.
A point of reference throughout is Deep Purple. The manner in which the organ in particular is utilized makes it hard to overlook a certain foundation in hard rock Deep Purple style, the exotic touch added to opening track Victorious giving a certain emphasis to that association. Heaven & Earth also incorporate a fair few details from the bands that followed in Deep Purple’s wake, Rainbow and Whitesnake for instance. Which does give the songs more of a unique touch than many others exploring a similar style of music.
Heaven & Earth aren’t toally steeped in classic British hard rock though. The use of a certain guitar effect on Man & Machine is impossible to liten to without thinking about Bon Jovi for instance, and if anything I’d describe this album as one with a Deep Purple inspired sound given a US makeover. Singalong ballads and uptempo rockers both have a certain feeling of hair metal to them, or perhaps radio friendly hard rock 1980’s style might be a better description. However you’d like to describe this element it all boils down to this: That the album doesn’t come across as one with an all out vintage focus, but rather a band making an attempt at giving classic hard rock 70’s style a more contempoary oriented makeover, possibly drawing inspiration from the radio friendly part of the US based hard rock scene of the 1980’s. Pleasantly engaging and charming hard rock that most likely deserves a lot more playtime on classic rock oriented radio stations than I suspect it has seen so far.
Those who tend to have a soft spot for hard rock of the kind that looks back to the 1970’s and Deep Purple for inspiration should enjoy this album from start to finish, as long as they don’t expect to encounter a band that attempts to replicate that particular sound. If I should narrow it down a bit, I guess that those who enjoyed Deep Purple’s “The House of Blue Light” might be a key audience here, and in particular those amongst them with an ear for 80’s style radio friendly hard rock.
My rating: 73/100
