The old saying goes “No love is greater than that of a father for his son.” This rings true for many father son duos in the metal world. Sven Dirkschneider has been keeping time for his dad Udo since 2015. Igor Cavalera Jr. helped his dad Max create his strongest album in decades with the release of Go Ahead and Die’s self titled debut. Wolfgang Van Halen stood side by side with his dad Eddie until his untimely passing, both onstage and off. Joining these heavy metal dynasties is Biff Byford and his son Seb.
It’s safe to say we’re all familiar with Biff. After 40+ years and twenty something albums with Saxon, he’s a household name among headbangers worldwide. Seb is a respectable talent in his own right, fronting the modern rock band Naked Six. Together, Biff and Seb make up Heavy Water. Stylistically, this project has much more in common with Seb’s musical output than Biff’s. If you’re expecting battering double bass drums, high octane riffage, and NWOBHM melodies, prepare for something completely different.
The easiest way to sum up Heavy Water’s debut album, Red Brick City, is imagine if Soundgarden was fronted by Biff Byford instead of Chris Cornell. The bedrock of this album are groovy, gutsy, and grungy rockers in the vein of the Seattle’s native sons. As 70(!!!) year old Biff sings his heart out, Seb conjures crunch laden Kim Thayil fashioned riffs on cuts like “Solution”, “Red Brick City”, and “Medicine Man”. When Seb does join his father on vocals, his soulful mid range compliments his father’s signature wails.
Although Red Brick City mostly lies within the confines of pseudo-stoner rock, it does have its adventurous moments. “Personal Issue No. 1” boasts the chord changes and anxiety of late 90s/early 2000s power pop (i.e. Third Eye Blind, Fountains of Wayne). If there’s ever a new American Pie movie, this is a shoe in for the soundtrack. “Follow This Moment” is a gentle ballad written in the tradition of the British Invasion. With vocal harmonies front and center, you’d believe it was a lost Who B-side. Closing the album out is the swaggering “Faith”. You’ve heard of rock n’ rollers? This is a funk n’ souler.
For those interested in hearing the elder Byford dip his toes into something different for a little over a half hour, Red Brick City makes for an entertaining listen. It’s one of the more well written, well produced, and well thought out “retro rock” albums released in recent memory. In other words, it’s a cut above the dime a dozen indie bands who play the same style, only to clog up lineups of festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella. Who knows? Maybe next year one of those fests will book Saxon as their obligatory “veteran act” and put Heavy Water on a side stage? Stranger things have happened.
6 out of 10
Label: Silver Lining Music
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Wolfmother