Like A Storm took SiriusXM’s Octane and Active Rock Radio by “storm” (pardon the pun) with their dominant, didgeridoo-infused rocker, “Love The Way You Hate Me,” putting themselves on the hard rock map. Lest anyone think that the only innovative trick up the sleeve of this band of brothers from New Zealand is the didgeridoo, their latest single, “Wish You Hell” fuses the unlikely (but incredibly cool) combination of heavy rock and delta blues, inspiring the band to coin the phrase “Voodoo Metal.”
Although these Kiwi rockers aren’t actually sticking pins into voodoo dolls, “Wish You Hell” is still about vengeance at its core. “When the band came up with the line ‘Wish You Hell,’ says guitarist, Matt Brooks, it felt like the perfect good riddance to someone who screwed you over.”
Like A Storm was inspired to blend delta blues with hard rock after coming up with the song title, but rather than taking the easy way out and sampling an old record, the band decided to write and record one themselves. The result is a blues sound that is so authentic, that their record label asked them about getting the rights to the song before using it on “Wish You Hell.”
The toe-tapping, scratchy blues intro paints a mental picture of a hot, muggy summer day in the bayou. The repeating bluesy groove is the glue that holds the entire song together. In between, the band showcases a unique, melodic hard rock sound.
It’s clear that Like A Storm has a lot more to offer than one juggernaut single. The band continues to show their versatility on “Wish You Hell.” If there is another hard rock band out there that can lay claim to incorporating a didgeridoo, a jaw harp, a slide resonator guitar and a mandolin in their career, much less their first few singles, I have yet to discover them.
In between creating songs that push the envelope and redefine the “norm” of what is expected out of a hard rock band today, Like A Storm did a kickass cover of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” (see Hard Rock Daddy review). While “Gangster’s Paradise” is something of a hidden gem, there is no doubt that “Wish You Hell” is poised to enjoy the same success as Like A Storm’s debut single, “Love The Way You Hate Me.” With a little luck, the song might enjoy even more success, especially if it gets placed into a TV show or movie that takes place in the Deep South (a smart Music Supervisor would jump all over this track!).
The YouTube video for “Wish You Hell” will be debuting on Halloween. Normally, Hard Rock Daddy doesn’t feature reviews without an accompanying YouTube video, but the song is so cool and different, that an exception was made in this case.
Click on this link to download “Wish You Hell,” and check back to see the video at the end of the month.
[…] You might think integrating delta blues into a hard rock song might require a bit of Southern DNA. Well, it’s hard to get more “southern” than the South Pacific. Just as Volbeat invokes the spirit of Johnny Cash, these New Zealand newcomers found just the right tone to put you firmly on a darkened front porch swatting at mosquitoes… and then blowing you right off of that porch with a good-riddance anthem. One of those songs that you just can’t avoid grinning about from the first few notes. (see Hard Rock Daddy review) […]