Rydell – ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’
Rydell are a band doing the whole Emo/Hardcore thing and they manage to pull it off really well. This is a 13 track CD and each song is a masterpiece and is full of energy and enthusiasm. They seem to draw influences from the lovely band Hot Water Music and this is not a surprise as the band have actually done a split with them and also played gigs with them so they are bound to take some influence. They have toured with all the top American bands of the same genre so they know what they are doing and make melodic hardcore at it’s finest. This album effort from the band, I must say is a superb effort as there are songs that are verging on Hardcore and then there are others that are so melodic and Emotion driven that it is hard to believe it is from the same band. ‘Ad Astra’ for example is a melodic, instrumental tune and at first I thought that there was no song there, but on turning up the volume I found that there was a very light instrumental rhythm going on and it is such an ace tune as it is so melodic and the emotion of it is captured without them even having to use vocals! It is truly amazing how they manage to do this and I’m not sure how but they have pulled this off perfectly here! As well as playing these melodic Emo tunes they also have the songs that are more raw and aggressive like ‘Home’ as you can tell this is more aggression fuelled rather than emotionally driven and it just proves that they can go from one extreme to another and pull it off with tremendous style. Also, I feel that ‘Ghost Culture’ is a great tune and again it is rather aggressive while remaining melodic at the same time so you get the best of both worlds. I feel that it is probably the song on the CD which stands out the most as it is sure to please everyone with its melodic aggression. The guitar playing on this CD is extremely strong and is not overshadowed by the vocals like it can be sometimes so you can see that the band have chosen not to follow a trend but to do their own thing and this is pleasing as I like to hear bands that do things slightly different to what most people do and this is exactly what Rydell do. I think that this CD is great as it has everything you want, emotion, aggression, and guitar riffs to die for. Also, the vocals are extremely strong and they are what make the CD so original and exciting. This is probably the greatest Emo CD I have and probably will ever hear. I strongly encourage you to download this band as they are moving and contain as much excitement as you could possibly wish for in a band.