Review | The Mercury Riots – In Solstice

Independent Release / SAOL

The Mercury Riots are a new US power rock band, formed by members of The Brave Ones, Bullets And Octane and Warner Drive, consisting of Felipe Rodrigo (guitar), Fede Delfino (bass guitar), Justin Walker (vocals) and Jonny Udell on drums. These guys play loud, fast and jet-fuelled power rock and roll without taking prisoners.

GLORIOUS MELODIES AND ANTHEMIC TRACKS

And, yes, this powerful quartet sounds familiar, but they also do NOT sound like your regular sleazy rockers from the L.A music scene as The Mercury Riots draw inspiration from bands like ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Rose Tattoo, The Cult, as well as Metallica. Hard rock fans will certainly love this album as from the moment ‘In Solstice’ kicks off with the awesome opener ,,Make It”. The quality of The Mercury Riots shines through and you cannot sit still listening to their straight powerful sound. You have to bang your head, stomp your feet or scream along.

Follow up ,,Be Yours”, the first single release, sounds rather like a blues rock song with a cool bass guitar groove. In fact, the entire album is filled with glorious melodies and anthemic tracks that are very suitable for huge live arenas. Take for instance ,,Scream It Out” or ,,Save Me A Drink”,  two almost perfect stadium rockers for sure.

LED ZEPPELIN

,,Sweet Melody” slows the speed of the album a bit down and it is another spectacular song in fact, featuring again an addictive chorus and a cool riff. ,,Take Me When You Go”, ,,99 Degrees” and ,,Light It Up” are cool hard rocking tracks with sometimes even a dirty and raunchy sound and these tracks also almost want you to scream along to, so play them f…. LOUD! The Mercury Riots save the best for last, as ,,Nobody Knows” is a great epic, hymn-like hard rock song, truly reminding me of good old Led Zeppelin.

IN CONCLUSION

So, overall. ‘In Solstice’ – produced by none other than Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica) – is a really excellent hard rock album, with no fillers, just straightforward,dirty, in your face rock and roll that will make you happy for sure. The big riffs, huge vocals and addictive choruses will stay in your system for a very long time. Highly recommended, play it LOUD, listening tip: ,,Save Me A Drink.”

Release date: 21 June 2024