Album Review: Those Damn Crows - God Shaped Hole
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Straight outta Bridgend, South Wales, Those Damn Crows have been wowing audiences the length and breadth of the country since 2014, garnering plaudits and prizes from the outset, and establishing themselves as one of the UK’s most promising hard rock hopes.
By the time of their third album, 2023’s Inhale/ Exhale, the band had already tasted the success of their endeavours by finding themselves on Download’s main stage in 2022, rubbing shoulders with Black Label Society, Deftones and Iron Maiden; as well as a special guest slot at Stonedead Festival that same year, warming us all up nicely for Michael Schenker.
Both of those records made impressive dents in the country’s charts so the mouth waters at the prospect of the imminent fourth album: God Shaped Hole.
If the pressure was on to create a worthy follow-up to Inhale/ Exhale, then those stresses are absent from the finished product, as God Shaped Hole is ten tracks from a band whose upward trajectory is assured.
Each of the ten songs is a showcase for the arrows in Those Damn Crows’ quiver and a demonstration that they are not afraid to fire any one of them at any given time. Dancing with the Enemy opens the album with a huge, arena rock statement of intent. It’s wall-to-wall hard-hitting riffs and driving rhythms, all supplemented by Shane Greenhall’s vast vocal range.
Full-bloodied rockers abound everywhere you look: Let’s Go Psycho was a lead single last summer and blasts away with some hard-edged percussion, courtesy of drummer Ronnie Huxford, and some of the fuzziest bass and dirtiest riffs heard here.
No Surrender is a face-ripping, fist-pumping anthem, lead by sharp, slicing guitars from the established duo of Ian Thomas and Dave Winchurch; Turn it Around has a flirtation with the Industrial during its verse sections, and Spit & Choke is a short, sharp shocker, driven by Lloyd Wood’s bass, and brimming with snotty punk attitude.
Early on, Fake arrives with an unexpectedly slow and heavy chug, Shane’s vocals fluctuate between the low and dark, and the light and soaring, as the band make a caustic comment about the state of deception on social media.
But being an uncompromising rock machine is only part of the Those Damn Crows’ schtick, with the other aspect exploring a softer, more introspective side. Glass Heart is spritely jangling guitars and a pop sensibility, through not without a darker hue, those same nineties alt rock vibes come through on the upbeat Americana of Dreaming’s emotionally wrought blend of clean guitars and dirty riffs.
New single, The Night Train continues those nineties alt trapping, along with an underscoring of Zeppelin III’s folky energy as Shane journeys through the upper range of his vocals. Album closer, Still, is a simple acoustic offering that finds its progression accentuated with subtle keys and climaxes with orchestration.
God Shaped Hole is a thoroughly enjoyable record that plays to all Those Damn Crows’ strengths: it’s expertly crafted, flawlessly played and built from the finest rock South Wales has to offer. It’s a swaggering hard rock record that will see the band’s ascent assured and their reputation enhanced. Surely, festival headlining slots are now only a matter of time!
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