Album Review: Arcane Saints - Turning The Tide

There's a classic, heavy rock sound to Melbourne rockers Arcane Saints' newbie Turning The Tide, which is only natural given singer Michael John is a relative of Iron Maiden keystone Steve Harris. Some blessings are stamped in DNA. And a blessing it is, for John's clear, high-wire vocal is the perfect billboard for the four-piece's melodic rock. It graces the album with a necessary maturity, because while musically there's little to fault with John's vocal gymnastics or the band's quite solid output, there's a number of tracks here that fail to leave any impression, whether through lacklustre hooks or repetitive patterns, which leaves the whole album in danger of being relegated to occasional spins.

Take Hard To Please, for instance. Following opener Jealousy, which promises great things with its sublime chugging riff, ballsy licks and neat kit work, it almost performs well in its shadow – frantic punk beat opening, affected vocal, fresh harmonies – but soon these wear thin as they're reiterated again and again. The same seems to apply to Alone and the sadly clichéd lyric content of Wrecking Ball (the title says it all).

While it's always nice to have a bit of variety, it comes at a cost when changes in pace and style do little to leave an impression. Your Ocean, Forever Now and I'll Be Around are successive 'soft' tracks and apart from some deep digs for pretty madrigal-like sounds in the latter, they just don't hit hard enough where they're supposed to. But there's some cracking stuff found in Worlds Collide with John's urgent delivery and Hysteria's punchy riff, and they're quite redeeming factors to consider.