Fashioned From Bone - Fashioned From Bone
Self-released - 2024
Stoner, Alternative Rock, Grunge
Rated: ****1/2
Fashioned From Bone is a band from the beautiful city of Saarbrücken, Germany. They've been around for some years and after releasing a few singles over the years, they surprised the world by releasing their strong debut album last month. It's the perfect combination of heavily grooving stoner rock and pop sensibility. Knowing this, you won't be surprised that the likes of Queens of the Stone age and Hermano ring through in their music, but also the melody/power punch of 4LYN's earlier work isn't far away and somehow an uplifting take on grunge also throws itself in the mix. And as far as one can speak from a Saarland sound, I feel some connection in overall approach and feel with Stromberg and Lacuna, two highly underrated bands from the same area. The most beautiful thing however, is that these influences and connections are merely snippets that pop up in your head with irregular intervals, because these guys mainly just sound like Fashioned From Bone - three guys that obviously love rock music in different shapes and forms, while drawing from those inspirations to create their own sound with an incredible sense for melody.
Being all killer no filler, it's difficult to highlight any of the songs, but the laidback intro of first song 'Back into Gold' reveals itself as a nice piece of trickery once the heavy guitars set in. 'Moving Slowly Down the Line of Chalk' is another one that puts you on the wrong foot, because this is arguably the heaviest song of the bunch. Nothing slow at all going on there. Most of the time though the songs are a picture perfect example of dynamics, both in composition and execution. The aforementioned 'Back into Gold' is one of those. Another one worth mentioning is 'Ground Full of Roses', a song that leans the most towards QOTSA, albeit more interesting. But two of my favorite tracks have to be 'Rig the System' and 'Blue as the Blackest Sky' that are showcases of how power and melody can go hand in hand and are perfect blueprints of the Fashioned From Bone sound. And after you've been thrown all over the heavy rock landscape, they close shop with a heartfelt semi-ballad with a nice build-up called 'The Hand That Seeks'. A well-thought through ending to an album that makes a big statement and shows that Fashioned From Bone is a band to be reckoned with, hopefully for many years to come.
(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)
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