Posted on: April 10, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The Heavy – Great Vengeance and Furious Fire / 2008 Counter / 10 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/theheavy73 /

The style of funk that starts off “Great Vengeance and Furious Fire” could be present on the soundtrack of any Blaxploitation movie of the seventies. There is virtually nothing that could conceivably link this track to the current period, and that’s a good thing. While acts like Jameroquoi tried to do the same general type of think in the late nineties, The Heavy are able to make a compelling and intense style hit listeners from the opening note of “Great Vengeance”.

The second track has a hell of a big set of shoes to fill, and “Coleen” is a track that continues the same type of sound first laid out by the band during “That Kind of Man”. While Gnarls Barkley had cornered the current funk / indie-cred type of sound in the last few years, it may just be The Heavy that takes their crown from them in 2008. “Coleen” is a rare example of a track that has a number of instruments and sounds go completely balls-out (in this case, the vocals and percussion) without clogging up the track in the slightest. “Set Me Free” marks the third track on the disc, and shows The Heavy as approaching the creative process in a way that was significantly different than what ultimately resulting during “That Kind Of Man” or “Coleen”. The slower tempo of “Set Me Free” may be miles away from what the band previously did, but it opens up the possibilities for The Heavy during the later tracks of “Great Vengeance”.

As always, the track could easily make it to rotation as a classic track without too much complaint, and one best bet that they will be on alternative stations’ rotations in the months to come. A fuzzy ode to classic rock is the style du jour during “You Don’t Know”. This track is different from other tracks in that it shows off the instrumental capacity of The Heavy – the act can create catchy traditional songs, but they can drop out the vocals and really make a compelling instrumental-heavy track too. Without anything in the way of obvious weakness to be found on “Great Vengeance and Furious Fire”, listeners to The Heavy can ride their wake all the way to the ending of “Who Needs The Sunshine?”. Keep the act in your sights; they will be the next big thing in all of the hip circles.

Top Tracks: Dignity, Doing Fine

Rating: 7.6/10

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