Black Whiskey – Dry Bones

Black Whiskey

Dry Bones

by Dave Nowels at 03 April 2019, 4:14 PM

BLACK WHISKEY are a London based Classic Hard Rock quartet comprised of, Simon Gordon (XENTRIX, HELLFIGHTER) on vocals, Kev Ingles (STATE BLUES, SWAMPSNAKE) on guitar, Craig Nabb (SLAUGHTERED) on bass and rounded out with Rich Bannister (NAKEDIUM) on the drum stool. The members have dabbled in various heavy genres over the years, including Thrash, NWOBHM, Prog, blues and more.

“Dry Bones” is the band’s sophomore effort and the follow-up to 2015’s “Heavy Train”. In between releases, the band encountered a pretty significant obstacle. Guitarist Ingles received a cancer diagnosis and has been undergoing treatments. The band scheduled their writing, rehearsals and recording around Ingles’ chemotherapy and surgeries, while also curtailing desired touring for the debut album. Additionally, the band made a lineup change on bass, with Nabb filling the position in 2015. Still the band soldiered on with recording at Empire Studios and the finished product drops on Friday 4/12.

The album kicks off with the title track “Dry Bones” and sets the collective pace for the album quite well. The songs here are pretty consistently mid-paced rockers that would cater well to most heavy radio playlists. There’s a lot of melodic aspects at play here backed by a strong foundation of great playing. The album’s first single was “Cheat the Hangman” and it along with “Bitter Pill” and “Ends of the Earth” stood out as favorite tracks for me. Throughout the album the band’s 70’s influences rear their head. Sometimes it’s more obvious than others, but it might be a bit of UFO here, or RAINBOW (think Joe Lynn Turner era) there, but always that melodic factor is present and accounted for. Also accounted for is the fabulous guitar work from Ingles. I found them well composed, never overly flashy, yet a highlight each time.

BLACK WHISKEY’s “Dry Bones” was a really enjoyable ride. There’s pretty much an full album of radio friendly and fine crafted heavy rock songs here for consumption. Here’s to Kev Ingles’ health and recovery, and to getting this band back on the road and rocking these songs in a live environment. BLACK WHISKEY have done an admirable job of blending a classic 70’s swagger with a modern edge.
Well done.


Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Memorability: 7
Production: 8