Six Gun Saints – Ashes [EP]
Six Gun Saints
“Ashes” (EP)
Hard Rock
Released 14 October 2011
Via Dead Island Records
Six Gun Saints, are a hard rock quartet hailing from Concord, CA. Their debut EP “Ashes” is influenced by so many sources, yet it comes off a just standard metal. Described to me as follows “Their EP ‘Ashes’ was shaped by drawing from various musical influences of each band member, forming their unique sound”, yes it’s quite cliché and I feel like I’ve heard this sound somewhere before. Don’t mistake that as bad; it’s just being advertised incorrectly.
The EP itself is a fun heavy metal romp and feels like a Bullet For My Valentine/Avenged Sevenfold-esk type sound. The riffs are well structured and easy to listen to, this isn’t something that’s going to challenge you as a listener but it’s good all the same. The track “Spotlight” opens with a gorgeous bit of very atmospheric music and kicks right back into the same vibe. The reason I point this out is that, for only the second track on their first EP this is really well composed and feels really nice. The twin guitar is pretty pretty cool too and complements the overall sound nicely with the bass and drums creating a great framework for the band to shine.
The production quality varies throughout and some points are really night and they hit just mark that’s needed, but other moments it feels really disjointed and and the timing feels weird too. The riffs are always nicely structured and when it comes to transitioning between chorus and verse it just feels like they stopped playing for a little while then started again and someone just mixed it badly. I can imagine these songs sound a great deal better live, or hell, this might even just be their style. I don’t know, the disadvantage of reviewing a debut is you don’t know what you can and can’t criticise, as it could just be the way I listen to music. For some parts to sound so good and then the other parts are sloppy, it just sounds disjointed in my head.
Overall, this is a good EP. I couldn’t say it’s any more than good. Six Gun Saints show a lot of promise and I do genuinely look forward to more from them, they could be the next big rock band they have all the necessary skills, they just need a little tighter production and more focus and they could be set.
3/5
Mick Birchall
Valkyrian Music 
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