Tubefreeks Reviews - The Dry Tide

Metal Nexus
Maryland’s TUBEFREEKS Raise The Bar With ‘The Dry Tide’
metalnexus.net
July 2017

Reviewed By Turbo Lover

Maryland hard rockers, Tubefreeks, are at it again with their self-released, third full-length album ‘The Dry Tide’. The album comes fully stocked with blistering guitar solos, entrancing rhythm riffs, and harmonized vocals which preserve the spirit of the 90’s grunge era that we all love so well. I was given this album along with others to review, and nothing hit me quite like ‘The Dry Tide’ and at first listen, I was hooked.

Tubefreeks list their musical influences as Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, Ozzy, Deftones, and Black Sabbath among others. All of which can be heard throughout ‘The Dry Tide’ and pays tribute to the aforementioned influences in a well-produced, tasteful manner. One listen, and you’ll see what I mean.

‘The Dry Tide’ kicks off with “Wicked Sky”, the perfect choice to open the album, as it introduces the listener to the band through their own unique blend of contemporary hard rock and the darker vibe of 70’s heavy metal. Speaking of which, I found that most songs on the album were very easily identifiable in terms of musical influence, and it speaks well throughout the flow of the album. Following up “Wicked Sky” is “Motoride”, a four-minute, supercharged face-melter that just produces a need for speed for anyone who listens. It punches in with raw guitars over gut-busting drum fills that give way to the more melodic main riff and coasts on until vocalist Paul van Valkenburgh takes the reigns and puts the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Third up on the album, “Way To The Sun” delivers, what should by now be familiar to listeners, a piercing guitar solo along with gritty rhythm guitars and vocal melodies that sound like they have been bred from the 90’s, which seems to be a common theme among a few songs on the album including “Whisper”, “Nevada”, and “Anathemy”.

“Anathemy” was my go-to song each time I would play ‘The Dry Tide’ – it just stuck with me after the first time I heard it, and quickly became my personal favorite on the album. Every band has that one song on each album that just has ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ is. To me, “Anathemy” was that song. As mentioned before, it’s deeply rooted in 90’s grunge/hard rock and powers into a steady hard rock groove with swelling lead guitar that serves as the foundation upon which the harmonized vocals sit. I try not to compare bands by name, but with ‘The Dry Tide’ I can’t help but admit that with each song on the album I could hear Alice In Chains writing and playing these songs, as I feel they’re that good. Other notable mentions on ‘The Dry Tide’ include “Deracho” and “Into The Fray”. Each of these songs contributes their own personal touch that gives the album just the right amount of variety, while staying in the vein of their hard rock roots.

Overall, ‘The Dry Tide’ is a solid, well put-together album that Tubefreeks should be proud to have written. If you haven’t yet, pick up ‘The Dry Tide’ and you’ll soon understand just what this band has to offer. They’ve definitely raised the bar with this album and I look forward to seeing what they have to offer next!

THRASHOCORE
Tubefreeks - The Dry Tide www.hardharderheavy.de
July 2017

Reviewed By Rivax.

----Review Translated from French----- "It is in the old pots that we make the best soups." Here is a common-sense phrase commonly used by old pots to emphasize that their years of experience (or at least, existence) allow them to appreciate situations with a form of wisdom. For an artist, this wisdom is expressed in the perspective, the practice and sometimes the acceptance of what one is and what one will never be. It is this awareness that allows trainings to take a fresh start, for pleasure and fun, no longer seeking to become the new king of the jungle, a rather praiseworthy and rational state of mind.

It's not TUBEFREEKS that will contradict me. Indeed, here is an American band founded in the 90s which knew at the time a local fame then separated at the beginning of our century to finally reactivate in 2010. The guys have had success with a Metal Hard Rock of Good bill (listen to be convinced their Best Of The 90's published in 2010). They took things back where they had left them. In 2010, the group met in the studio and recorded a first new disc, Complex Disorder. The challenge was to show that after a decade of betting, they were still able to create something new. A successful bet, a return to concerts and envy: the gang is moving into a new dynamic that leads to a second album released in 2017, The Dry Tide. The discography of TUBEFREEKS has the defects of its qualities: the time has not taken on its music, identical in 2017 to that composed in the 90s. The composes are a little longer and worked, production a little denser , But the specifications have not been altered. Like his two older brothers, The Dry Tide is a classic hard rock disc (pleonasm), a collection of cool and catchy tracks, with a plethora of cool riffs, a nasal and dragging Ozzy song, a guitar Lead to the Vivian Campbell and a feeling between Hard Rock seventies ("Wicked Sky", "Way to the Sun") and Heavy Metal with large racing-based riffs lit by guitar solos that send the dream ("Deracho", "Into The Fray") with a big pinch of ALICE IN CHAINS ("Whispers", "Reckoning").

In its history, its approach and even its attitudes, TUBEFREEKS evokes UGLY KID JOE. Of course, the lyrics are less irreverent and the repertory of eternal hits is missing, but when you see them on stage (as in the "Wicked Sky" clip), it's hard not to think of the Witfield Crane gang, And the scenic attitude of singer Paul van Valkenburgh.

A thousand leagues away from the revival trip dear to the young shoots who think we have to wear a patriarch's beard, crane shovels and tergal pants to play a convincing Hard Rock, TUBEFREEKS has solid arguments to cast off their cork To the brats.

EarToTheGroundMusic
Tubefreeks - Review of the song Whisper www.eartothegroundmusic.co
May, 2017

Reviewed By Matt Simon

Tubefreeks – “Whisper”

We don’t cover a whole lot of harder rock, but we are definitely not opposed to it. When we do however, you can rest assure that it is pretty good. This Maryland band has everything we look for when covering the genre. Traditional rock vocals that tread on Ozzy territory, relentless guitar, and thumping drums and bass that make you want to raise the devil horns. This is a definite guilty pleasure of ours and we appreciate the mix of grunge and metal. This track can be found on the acts third album The Dry Tide. Check out their timeless sound and look for them on tour in the US.

Quotables

Rocky Marr - The MARR Army Rock Show
- " Some of the coolest new music shows up at the MARR HQ. Go check out this awesome release from Tubefreeks. It is their 3rd full length album entitled "The Dry Tide". Very good stuff."

Dave Peers - El Duave - Big 100 FM Radio - Washington DC
About the Video Series - "A masterful rollout with the music to back it up"

Eric Sokel - The Rox Magazine Boss and Editor in Chief
- "It's just an all-around solid album"

J-Rock and Patty from Rock Solid Pressure
J-Rock - "We closed out that Wickedly cool set with a wickedly cool band we just discovered called Tubefreeks. That highly original track you just heard was called Wicked Sky"
Patty - "Aww man - how hard is it to find an original sounding vocalist in a metal band these days? Well you just heard one!"
J-Rock - "This guy is an insanely good vocalist kind of like a cross between Layne Staley and Ozzy, but highly origianl, I really can't compare him to anybody. They're so good I want to bring this band to Florida. The album is insane... go get it."