Album Review: Bitter Earth

As promised by the previous outing, the Mule EP, 71 Sunset’s debut LP, Bitter Earth, is a deluge of tight riffage in their signature throw back to old school 70’s Hard Rock and 90’s alternative style.

Where Mule was a short, heavy hitting mix of four tracks showcasing the band’s best pieces and techniques, just long enough for a single attention span, Bitter Earth spreads the awesome over an entire album. Hard hitting from the start, there is a more Progressive element in a lot of the songs, and even the album itself seems to get heavier as it progressed.

Being a full length, there is more room to explore different influences and different techniques. I’m hearing pieces of Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Pantera, Mike Patton, and  other 90’s legends close to my heart. I’m not saying it’s experimental; 71 Sunset sound like they know what they’re doing, and that is escaping the pigeon hole and providing a wide array of styles and genres. But this isn’t a tribute album, or a cover band, in the same way Nirvana wasn’t a Led Zeppelin tribute band. This difference is the way 71 Sunset have taken the sounds that influenced them and used them to build their own unique sound.

Bitter Earth is a raw record, not to the point of sounding like it’s recorded on a tape deck in a prison, but enough to sound like a true performance. In a lot of places it’s heavier than the preceding EP, and in others there’s more of an Easy-listening classic rock motif.

While Bitter Earth may not provide the next big New Zealand rock hit, this is in no way forgettable album. 71 Sunset have amalgamated the best of the nineties into a cohesive album that is worthy of a place amongst the great bands of that generation.

You can download and stream Bitter Earth from the Seventy One Sunset Bandcamp Page.