Bitter Heart - Rotten

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BITTER HEART is a theee piece outfit from Tunisia. Definitely a unique sound and mixing a lot of styles that mesh very well. They were formed in 2016 and this is their first release. I don’t usually do breakdowns of individual songs but I thought the process was well worth it for this band because not one song is the same as the other but it does blend quite well to make a seriously solid first release.

‘’Heartless’’ is the opening track. This song reminded me a lot of the debut album of WEEZER of all bands. It has than alternative indie rock feeling, when WEEZER were the darlings of the Indie Scene back in 1994. ‘’Kill Your Dreams’’ is a mix of old school ALICE IN CHAINS mixed with the guitar effects of Nu-Metal but with a tinge of 80’s New Wave. It’s a pretty funky track and definitely of the best songs off the album. ‘’She Kills Me More’’ is literally straight out of the early 2000 scene of British Rock. This sounded a lot like what was out there by bands like THE STROKES or even FRANZ FERDINAND. The guitars are a bit different though and there is a lot of effects thrown in for good measure!

‘’Rotten’’ sounds a bit like KILLER KHAN, a lesser known Stoner band from the early 2000’s that is unfortunately easily forgotten. The vocals are very reminiscent of Maynard James Keenan from TOOL. ‘’Grave Digger’’ sounds a lot like early 90’s Grunge Rock, it really has that SILVERCHAIR and BUSH vibe. One of the more throwback songs on this album. ‘’Lose Myself’’ could have been on an early ALICE IN CHAINS album, even the vocals are mimicking Layne Staley. It’s the longest song of the album and I loved the ending with the female vocalist chiming in and it adds a lot to this song.

‘’Psychopathic Evil Woman From Hell’’. Probably the most rocking song of the album and boy does the singer sound angry and pissed on this one! I guess it’s not only woman than are scorned by love! It sounds like a mix of old school Ozzy Osbourne mixed with the bluesy rock of GYPSYHAWK. ‘’Dense Motherfucker Little Piece of Shit’’. Another angst driven song. The keyboards are ever-present and they are very proggish. The vocals are very rough on the second part of the song, probably representing his hate of the person they are talking about in the title of the song!

‘’Cosmic Orgasmic’’ is definitely my favorite track. It has dueling female and male vocals and this song doesn’t sound like anything on the album. It’s a mid tempo track but the second part of the song reminded me a lot of the ‘’Train of Thought’’ era of DREAM THEATER. It’s poignant Prog Metal at its finest. ‘’Beyond Omega’’ is the closing instrumental track. It’s very spacey, very 70’s Progr Rock. A great way to end the album.

This band has a lot of promise and offers everyone something different from one track to another.

Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Memorability: 8
Production: 8