You can make a fair argument for the fact that rock music has found its perfect form. It is as heavy as it needs to be before we start labelling it metal. It has embraced just the right amount of groove and melody but not so much that it heads off into poppier territory. It understands drama but stops short of theatrics. It is energetic, edgy, euphoric and down to earth. And if you want the evidence for this argument, just check out the latest track from Immortalizer.
If last time out, Immortalizer made no secret of the fact that we were being given nothing less than a love letter and a tribute to the Lemmy, a man regarded as a deity in rock circles, I’m Gone moves with similar swagger. Again, the product of the one-man band that is Dave D.R. here he sets out an equally sensational sonic stall. Guitars squall, the bass grooves and even throws in some melodic grace notes of its own, the drums are relentless and his voice has the perfect blend of power and poise, world-weary edge and defiance.
Like before, his sound is built from everything that makes rock music so perfect. There is NWOBHM grit and grind, there is punky swagger, there is just enough hard rock guitar-slinging and musical pyro-technical playing, and there is the no-nonsense, down the line, let’s just get on with the job attitude that rock was built on. There is also just enough swing and movement in the underlying groove that moves it slightly out of the rigid and inflexible realms of rock music proper and imbues it with a tasteful touch of rock ‘n’ roll grace…often the missing ingredient in much of today’s scene. (There’s a reason why Lemmy always described his band as playing “rock and f*****g roll,” and delivered the music with a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye, there’s a difference between the two camps, believe me.)
I’m Gone is another slice of uncompromising, heavy music from a man who has studied at the feet of the best, it looks you in the eye and then kicks you in the teeth and you are going to enjoy every second of it. It’s a break-up song, an anthem to saying enough’s enough, a drawing of lines under a bad relationship, a bag packed, a car being revved up enough to make your point, its an open road and new experiences calling.
It’s a staple rock narrative for sure but then no one said that the genre was going to offer you any great slices of wisdom or life-changing secrets. Those things you will have to work out by yourself. But whilst you do, it will offer music to fire you up, soothe your soul, make you let off steam, punch the air, escape the past and perhaps reality itself for a short while, and celebrate life…possibly all at once!
