THE COTTON SOETERBOEK BAND
"Twisted" (Caf Fine Records;
2008)
Reviewed by Metal Mark
This band was formed when guitarist Alan Cotton set out to look for a singer and he landed Robert Soeterboek. They claim influence from Deep Purple, early Whitesnake and some Southern rock acts as well. I would say that's a fair enough claim at least to begin describing their sound.
This is blues-tinged hard rock with lots of melodies and it's very smooth the majority of the time. As mentioned above, the band claims to be influenced by 1970s acts and I hear that in the use of the organ and the basic style. However, I think they sound more like a band who took their 70s influences and filtered them through a late 80s/early 90s hard rock approach. What this means to me is they rubbed down a lot of the grit and soul and went for more accessible melodies instead.
The vocals of Robert Soeterboek are strong, but predictable. He can carry the tunes well, but the lack of variety in the pace of many of the tracks doesn't provide him with many chances to really showcase his range. The music does at times remind me of say Mark 3-era Deep Purple and pre-"Slide It In" Whitesnake but, unfortunately, many of their best moments are brief and occur only at the start of the songs. Then the band seems to try and glide for longer than they realistically can. The result is that a bulk of several songs just fail to sustain enough energy to last the duration.
There is no doubt that this band has some fine playing ability here and there but, for me, they just lacked the punch that they really needed.
For more information, check out http://www.cottonsoeterboekband.com.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2009 by R. Scott Bolton. All
rights reserved.
Revised:
14 Oct 2024 14:01:58 -0400
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