XII Boar is a Sludge/Stoner Metal band from North-East Hampshire, England. Their free download EP called XII is a really nice one. This EP distinguishes by the awesome guitar riffs and the pounding rhythm section. The excellent vocals reminds me a lot of Ben Ward from Orange Goblin and Ravens Creed. The four songs on this EP are catchy and heavy. For me is the final track S.K.O.L. the highlight of this EP. Enjoy!
Seeing a name like XII Boar you know you want to check out more and this trio are certainly worth a look and keeping an eye on. From North-East Hampshire in the UK, XII Boar have just released their debut CD “XII”, 4 tracks of what they themselves call "Stoner Metal", blending aggressive riffs with stirring melodies. Their influences are clear to hear listening to the tracks, from Down and Crowbar to older classic bands like Motorhead and Black Sabbath, they take the better parts of each and turn it into their own sound.
The first track “Trainwreck” immediately grabs hold, a powerful riff driving the song on as the guitar of Tommy Hardrocks graces the track with a cool solo as he delivers some great strong vocals here and throughout “XII”. The bass of Adam Thomas is a distinct and great prominent feature of the whole release too slapping down some powerful grooves and on second song “Beg, Borrow & Steal” from the opening intro to the end he rocks the show. Drummer David Wilbraham excels here too combining with Thomas to lay the canvas for Hardrocks to do his stuff with another solid solo. This is the strongest track on the CD, a fine mix of metal and a softer rock sound which at times played with a hint of a harder Queens Of The Stone Age.
“Sludge” is an instrumental and epitomises what the band are trying to achieve with their sound, showing off their musicianship perfectly and with the bass again grooving and stomping through the track, you just cannot help but like the thing. The CD closes with the weakest track, not to say it is bad, not at all, but to me “S.K.O.L” feels like a jam during recording a track of many parts, all good but they just don’t flow as neatly as they should.
For their debut release XII Boar show great promise and I for one will be eager to hear more. The only real criticism of this is the production quality, the sound is a little on the muddy side but for a first own CD and for the quality on show it is more than acceptable. XII Boar will be around for a while and producing some memorable music in the future of that I have no doubts.
(By Pete Ringmaster at Rockpulse)
XII Boar - XII (2010)
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