REVMATIC

It's a rare day when we review unsigned submissions around here. I can't speak for the other guys, but I usually leave 'em in the pile with a guilty glance because most of them, regardless of genre, would get the same weak-sauce write-up — "yeah, they're pretty good for a local band, they're not very original, they got heart, but they need to stand out more to get to the next level". If we had more space, or we did nothing but write reviews 40 hours a week, then coming up with 947 ways to say that every year would make sense. As it is, though, there's just no time.

Canada's REVMATIC are a cut above the usual DIY fare, although they still have some work to do. On this, their third album, the band adds a bit more metal crunch to what was previously a more hard rock-oriented approach. Make no mistake, though, this is very much verse-chorus-verse commercial-grade rock, a heavy-but-catchy blend of likable radio crunchers that'd do just fine opening for anyone from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to MOTLEY CRUE. There's enough riffy grit to slot in with, say, a BRAND NEW SIN, yet the hooks to swagger alongside BUCKCHERRY or even the brainier of the hair metal brigade.

The secret weapon REVMATIC wields is that they put it all on the line for the chorus — they live or die by that moment in each song, with vocalist Nathan Yetter providing a good cross between melody and rough-hewn regular guy hollering. Combine his penchant for sing-along-ready hooks with the muscular, workingman's riffing (think '90s ANTHRAX with more groove, or METALLICA if they'd knocked out the Black Album in one day during the "Stone Cold Crazy" session) and you've got some winning tunes, a slightly more metallic take on the "bar band made good" formula without all the irritating autotuned gbig-budget gloss.

Not everything's perfect — the better songs are definitely stacked at the beginning, with a couple at the finish failing to keep the excitement level up ("Bad Behavior" in particular is a bit of a dud, though it boasts nice soloing). And lyrically, they're nothing to write home about, with a lot of "lyin'/cryin'" couplets and warmed-over paeans to chicks. But REVMATIC are definitely on their way to great things, and they're something the world needs more of — a radio-friendly hard rock band that doesn't forget their balls, or their distortion pedals, on the way to the studio.