The Sheffield based rock outfit Black Spiders combines many different elements of rock sound to their style. From the rousing bar chorus shouts of Kiss to the aggressive fuck all attitude of Monster Magnet to the heavy handed groove of Aerosmith and beyond. It only took a couple of spins to see why Ozzy Osbourne picked this band to play the UK OzzFest.

The bands “Sons of the North” release has varying degrees of rock and roll that, for all intents and purposes, is pretty much a solid effort. Sure, when you look at the band on paper you see the same old trends; songs about the devil, aggressive and vulgar attitudes, and tunes about rocking out, drinking beer, and women. These are the things that people associate with rock legends and have been for a long time. Sure, rock and roll isn’t what it used to be per say, but the band, once you stop looking at them on paper and listen to them on your stereo, well, they easily embody that long lost tradition that has been mimicked through the years by less then caliber rock bands.

The band has a fantastic rhythm section (Si “Tiger” Atkinson) that invokes the jam style of Joey Kramer, the dark resonating style of John Bonham, and the free flowing style of Peter Criss. As you can tell the album doesn’t just stick to one set type. Lead singer Pete “Spider” Spiby really has a sound all his own. Like most future rock stars the guy is plainly in his own league occasionally coming off a bit like Dave Wyndorf with the attitude of Iggy Pop but he lends his voice to a level of showmanship the likes of Kiss or Ozzy Osbourne without reaching that level of knock off status. It’s simply a sound to be heard to truly wrap your head around.

As a whole there is no doubt that Black Spiders will reach critical success. Just take a listen to St. Peter or Easy Peasy. Hell, nearly the entire album warrants several repeat visits. The only song on the album that I didn’t really care for was KISS Tried To Kill Me which sounded a bit phoned in and uninspired with a chorus that probably holds a lot of sentimental value to it’s songwriter but fails to invest the listener in any kind of hold. Regardless, I highly recommend Black Spiders: Sons Of The North.