Painted Man, The - Get Painted

Year of Release: 2002
Label: independent
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00

The Painted Man hail from Sweden and is another one of those promising up-and-coming acts. The band was founded back in '99 and with a few demos on their conscience (3 demos I believe) this EP is their first official release.

Although their promo sheet describes the band's music as having progressive elements, I feel that that is a little misguiding. From the material presented on this 6-track EP, I'd say the band play groovy hard rock. Whilst they have some interesting solutions and elements in their music I wouldn't necessarily call it progressive. Either way, this is good stuff. Their sound is perhaps not as polished many other bands in the same genre, although it sounds genuine and passionate. The Painted Man's music is also free from keyboards and includes some really tasty fretwork, I have to say that they have got a very talented vocalist who is very present in the aural picture. And a good vocalist is always a big plus. He has a somewhat coarse mid-ranged voice and really delivers on each song.

The songs are well composed and quite appealing and comprise of five rockers and one ballad and the more I play this disc the more I appreciate it. There are no weak songs here - they are all good. That might also be considered their only weakness, as I miss a couple standout tracks that would stand above the rest and lead the way. On the other hand, they should be credited for maintaining such high quality throughout this EP. That certainly leaves a better impression than having 10 tracks, where perhaps 4 songs are below average. Good choice! The production for an independent band is also favourable - well balanced, clear and appropriately raw.

Although they never reach the real heights with these songs this is still a whole lot better than 50% of other releases in the genre. The golden days of this music have already passed but I do feel that The Painted Man bring something fresh to the genre. From the material presented here they are definitely ready to be signed. My only concern is if they can keep the high quality up for a full blown release. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Similar To: Dogpound, Pontus Norgren, Human Race

[This review originally appeared May 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:


Musicians:
Jesper Lindbergh - drums
Dennis Carlsson - vocals
Peter Persson - guitars
David Persson - bass

Discography:
Get Painted (2002)

Genre: Rock

Origin SE

Added: January 17th 2005
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Hits: 2682
Language: english