Having picked up a name for themselves over the last few years as a UK band to keep your eye on, Brighton’s very own Furyon have finally signed to Frontiers Records for the release of their debut full-length album Gravitas, and what a debut it is!

Combining the classic rock swagger of early Whitesnake, the alternative rock dynamics of Alter Bridge and a sense of heaviness akin to 90’s Metallica, Gravitas is as confident a display of intent as any of the classic rock debuts that spring to mind; remember the first time you heard Iron Maiden’s immortal self-titled album, or banged your head to Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All and you knew that this is a band in it for the long haul? Not that Gravitas is quite in the same league as those iconic albums, but the feeling is there. The songs are played with heart, no doubt having been finely honed around the clubs that the band have been playing since their formation, and the musicianship is similar to that of a band that have been playing together forever.

The album starts on a good note with the pounding ‘Disappear Again’, which sounds more American than it probably should do, but immediately brings to mind Soil and their impressive Scars album from a few years back with its mix of grunge-like melodies and thick metal riffs. The album actually hits its peak around the mid-way point, with the mainstream radio feel of ‘New Way of Living’ giving way to the slinky biker-rock of ‘Voodoo Me’ and album highlight ‘Fear Alone’, which echoes classic Alice in Chains at their most soulful, only with a looser hard rock vibe. It does give a warm, fuzzy feeling when you hear an album by a relatively unknown band that you know are going to be big news somewhere down the road, and Gravitas is a good indicator of greater things to come. It isn’t a perfect album but it is an enjoyable one, and one that’ll keep bringing you back to rediscover its charms over and over. Or at least until the second album, anyway.

Furyon website: http://www.furyon.net/
Frontiers Records website: http://www.frontiers.it/