Album Review: Coldwards - Bloodwork

One of the things I love about running this blog is that I get to discover new bands and catch them at their early stages. You know, that point where the band hasn’t really gone forward in one direction, they just coming up with ideas that they think are cool and putting them into practice. This could be said for the up-and-coming metal band Coldwards. It also helps when your dad is the drummer in a very successful metal band. Yeah, I didn’t think to bury the lead here. This project is the product of second-generation musicians Zac and Sean Crosby; sons of Paul Crosby, the drummer from Saliva. However, don’t let that colour your judgment of the band themselves. Having now listened to the full debut album, Bloodwork a few times over I can comfortably recommend their music.

The album is quite an enjoyable listening experience. There are quite a lot of harsh riffs, wonderfully crafted melodies and engaging moments to keep you listening throughout. There are just some brilliant writing elements and song construction here that I felt kept me listening throughout, including a couple of guest spots that I felt fit right in with the overall tone of the album. I think the mix of heavy metal elements and electronic elements really worked for songs like the stand-out track of the album “Staind On You”. This is where the band really came together for me and the sound started to make a lot of sense. Also, the heartstring-pulling album closer, “You” makes full use of those electronic elements to bring out emotions in the listener.

When the band want to turn up the dial they can go full-on heavy they can dial it up a notch. Listening to the song “Bitch” you can hear that grit in the vocal work and the crunch on the guitars that makes me reminisce of bands from the mid-2000s that would do the same. Speaking of that track, it has a very welcome feature from Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal where the band do wise and stay out of his way when he just shreds the guitar.

All of the tracks have a nice finish to them and there’s no doubt they’re radio ready. Yet, I feel like there is something missing from the band. Though I’m not 100% certain I know what it is. I like a lot of the individual elements. I like the electronic music aspect and the duelling vocal styles of both Zac and Sean. Sean has more of a bite and grit, whereas Zac has the cleaner sound. I don’t think it’s utilised to its full potential though. Take any band with a similar vocal setup and you’ll usually hear counter-point vocal melodies and rich harmonies. Which I’m not getting here. Even on “Welcome to my Winter” which features Bobby Amaru from Saliva, even though this is a solid song with a decent hook, I feel like they could have done so much more with three vocalists on the same track. I’m not saying this is a deal breaker, by any means. However, I hope they take a more dynamic approach to their songwriting in the future. When you have duelling vocalists, it opens a song up so much more and you can do a lot in a three-to-four minute song.

So, in summary, I would say I liked this album. Quite a lot actually. Yet, there is a lot of room for growth. I think this album is a really amazing first step. Now it’s on them to capitalise on their assets. They know how to write a hook, and they have an interesting set-up with the electronic elements and infusing that with metal. They have two pretty competent vocalists that have contrasting vocal styles. They also have the clout to really push forward with the project. I hope to hear more from them in the future, and hey, if they’re ever in the UK or I find myself in the USA, I’ll check them out and see what they can do live.



You can Pre-save/Pre-add the album via the following link:
https://onerpm.link/Bloodwork_Coldwards