If Back Roads is so good, it's not only because it comes from Lyon or because it is propelled by the fire organ of a singer, Sylvaine, worthy of the greatest tigresses, but mostly because he (re) found the magic formula of a bluesy and rasping hard rock whose seventies roots give him a patina warmly authentic without making him a vintage band or garage of more. His art simply has what is called a soul, far from these banal photocopies of the past as enjoyable as they are.
Noticed by a test run of the same name and self-produced already promising, the quintet comes three years later with a second cake that does more than confirm the (very) good impressions left by his elder. That it is baptized of the single figure "II" testifies to a count that says more than many speeches about his vision of Rock with a big R, noble and uncluttered from all external cysts. Not to mention the fact that it helps to link it to a long series of glorious formations of the 70s (or not) that did the same, starting with Led Zeppelin, probably the most obvious influence of the combo with Deep Purple (we have return).
In short, Back Roads goes to the basics, does not bother with any pretension except that of having fun, true to the sound they have in the guts, retaining only the substantive marrow of a music rough release. Which does not mean that it is fat-free or rudimentary. On the contrary, these compositions reveal a work of writing and arrangements underground but formidable, that dresses a hard and tanned skin.
This second vintage displays the strong attributes that the group has in its corset. Nervous guitars fed to the masters Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore, a oiled rhythmic seat and of course the grainy and slightly dirty tone of this singer who perspires a hairy feeling find here the necessary space to spit their greasy sauce. The two rounds, in the hands of Christophe Oliveres and Fabrice Dutour, who rub and clash, come to enrich in heavy metal harmonies, like 'Dancing With The Devil', a furiously jubilant palette, which has built with power for three years.
An energetic lumberjack tempo is combined with juicy six-string strikes, the bite of which is reminiscent of the Man in Black game, witnessing 'Frenetic Traffic', which immediately shoots down the little wood as in the great Purple era. . Evil Zeppelinien ('Put You On Hold' or the heavy and bluesy 'Duel To The Death'), the following alternates between 'Into The Swamp' and 'Trouble Hotel', though we guess that the group prefers to have their feet caught in a leaden crust, as illustrated by 'Free Fall' or the 'Ship Of Fools' terminal, where the influence of the Airship is perhaps the most important.
With this chunky and restless opus, Back Roads asserts itself as a formidable group of Hard-Rock that has guts and a soul. (MusicWaves)
