Inglorious is the name of this English band and inglorious is certainly an apt word for them. Attempting to be a hard rock outfit they fail at every hurdle. The songs are very similar – in fact it sounds as though the guitarists have learnt one riff and one solo from the guitar workshop book of play by numbers. In every track they play the same riff or solo, sometimes a bit slower and sometimes (with great difficulty) a little quicker.
Rhythm guitarist Drew Lowe managed to escape this band after their first album, but when his replacement Wil Taylor did not work out he was dragged back in. Must feel a bit like a prisoner escaping Devil’s Island, sampling a taste of freedom and then being recaptured.
The bass and drums go though the same routine on every song and sometimes they almost appear to stop completely, as if they have just got a bit tired of doing what they are doing. The star of this particular show is supposed to be Nathan James, who has a reasonable mid-range voice but if he forces emotion into his songs they simply rasp. And when he tries to hit the upper reaches he sounds like a cat getting castrated with a blunt knife and no anesthetic.
The scribe was present when Inglorious opened last year’s Ramblin’ Man Festival in Maidstone, England. Their entry number was The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and that should have been a warning (I certainly won’t be fooled again!) To be honest the rest of their set that day passed by in a bit of a blur as the Dog’s interest was more centered on the real ale tents in the VIP area, which was obviously a bit of a relief.
This particular album starts off with a song called “Until I Die” with the beginning being a direct copy of the opening of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”, but that is where all comparisons end as the song staggers along at a tepid pace, drumming up no excitement. The following songs continue in a similar manner and as each fades to a conclusion you just sit there and hope that it was the final one on the album and you can now change the disc.
No real variation is attempted and each track just meanders along for about five minutes and then peters out. The only attempt at change comes halfway through with “Bleed for You”, which starts with acoustic guitars (yes, it’s that same awful riff just this time on acoustics not electric.) Unfortunately this too plods along in its own mediocrity until it finally fizzles out. The lyrics obviously took longer to sing than to write.
Surely there are better bands than this out there begging for some recognition and hopefully a recording contract? Cats in Space, Dirty Thrills, and The Room spring immediately to mind. The saving grace for Inglorious is that they have already recorded a second album (for the life of me I cannot think why.) But with the imaginative titled “Inglorious 2” there can only be room for improvement.
I’m afraid all I can see in the future for Inglorious is a life of being a support act and opening up festivals before people are even present or paying attention.
This offering gets one star purely for its imaginative album cover.
Inglorious:
Nathan James – vocals
Andreas Erikson – lead guitar
Drew Lowe –rhythm guitar
Colin Parkinson- bass
Phil Beaver- drums
Track List:
Until I Die
Breakaway
High Flying Gypsy
Holy Water
Warning
Bleed For You
Girl Got A Gun
You’re Mine
Inglorious
Wake
Unaware
Note: First published on September 29, 2017.
