CD: “Chasing Hours” by Fahran

The eagerly anticipated second album from heavy rockers Fahran sees two new members joining the Fahran family, Matt Black on vocals and Josh Ballantyne on bass guitar. “Chasing Hours” was funded through Pledge Music and produced by the band’s guitarists, Jake Graham and Chris Byrne.

First track “Long Gone” starts off with a nice little intro piece before exploding into an angst-ridden opus that wouldn’t sound out of place in a fight-turned-love scene in a big action film. It’s a tight musical effort, featuring a tidy little guitar solo towards the end before the track crashes to an abrupt close and I think it’s an accurate indicator of what else is to come.

Second effort “Take This City Alive” reminds me of another band, although I can’t think who – although there are some classic elements that bring to mind certain hair metal bands of the eighties. Third track “A Thousand Nights” continues in the same manner, having a vague Mötley Crüe-esque feel about it and it brings a certain element of nostalgia to my tired ears, although the sound is still fresh for 2014 – I also really like the strong vocal performance on this track.

“I Heard A Joke Once” starts off with a killer riff and some solid drums, promising a monster tune. However, although it’s an enjoyable track, it doesn’t quite follow through and I’m almost a little bit disappointed that it didn’t quite kick me in the teeth in the way I expected it to. I can’t fault the musicianship though; this band is tight and good at what they do.

Title track “Chasing Hours” starts slowly and morphs into a big, melodic (hate that word) “power” ballad. I personally think Matt tries a little too hard with his vocals on this track, but it’s still a great song and it’s probably one of my favourites on the album.

I was particularly fond of the instrumental bridge in the middle of “Cased In Steel”, but next track “You Could Be Mine” is definitely a barn-stormer of a tune, with an addictive hook and riff running through it.

I won’t go through the other tracks in detail, because they’re all acceptable, but to be honest (and remember this is my personal opinion) I do find them a little samey. Stand out tracks for me are “Back To Me”, with some mean acoustic guitar action and also “Black Mirror”, which features one of the dirtiest riffs I’ve heard for some time.

As an album, “Chasing Hours” is a powerful, melodic effort, with some great, bruising riffs and some excellent musicianship. I fully appreciate how difficult it is to gel as a band even with one new member, let alone two, so Fahran have done well to produce such a big album that has obviously been a hit with their fans. Having said that, in my humble opinion, I feel that this record is a grower; I didn’t fall instantly in love with it on the first or second listen, but I have no doubt that over time it will become a firm favourite and I suspect I will be finding new elements for many plays to come. The only thing I would say is that Matt doesn’t need to try so hard – he has an excellent voice, but sometimes his vocals are a little forced; I think he can be a lot more natural with it.

Fahran have a few live dates left between now and the end of the year so I would recommend that you try and catch them live – check out their Facebook page for further info.

Track Listing
Long Gone
Take This City Alive
A Thousand Nights
I Heard A Joke Once
Chasing Hours
Cased In Steel
You Could Be Mine
Some Kind Of Family
Are We Free
Back To Me
Prison
Black Mirror
Storms We Ride

Links
http://www.fahran.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Fahranmusic

Words by Vikkie Richmond.