Meet Junktone, established in 2016 in Tampere. Put 5 experienced players together in a band who bring a mixture of metal, ’90s Seattle grunge, rock, and even punk, now what do you get? A new EP that they have called Junkrock, which is supposed to bring us a variety of unique combinations of stoner riffs and grunge melodies.
The band’s first EP consists out of three songs “Kiss with a Fist”, “Drowning Me” and “Blacklist”. All songs are similar, work very well together, which gives the whole EP the right amount of consistency.
You’ll find the EP to be an infectious, raw heavy grunge record. Taking inspiration from Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, but also more brutal metal acts, Junktone blend the downright heavy; hitting you with a barrage of dirty, fuzzed out, but yet explosive riffs, driving rhythms and savagely catchy vocals.
Opener “Kiss With a Fist” has some decidedly stoner riffs – as they call it – at the forefront. Blend that with the impressive vocals of Eetu, who has the variety in his voice of Chris Cornel and you’re onto a winner. There’s a raw and boldness to the sound in the song. But you can really get a good feel of their heavy grunge-sound in “Drowning Me”, which has the same kind of melancholic atmosphere than we are used to from grunge, take for example Nirvana. At the same time “Blacklist” then shows us a different side to the coin, as the song often feels like a mixture between punk and thrash metal. The track takes a dirtier, more abrasive approach to their music, making it a true alternative metal track, that’s hard not to fall in love with.
More in general the band still has room for improvements, this is a first EP, the sound is there, but production-wise can be still a bit improved. Also annunciation is not always that present, at times it is very easy to understand the vocals, at times it’s a hard task. But these smaller issues don’t weigh up against the positive characteristics this EP has to offer: Aggressive, heavy and full of hooks, junkrock… A combination that works, we certainly couldn’t ask for more. We are excited to hear more from this band in the future.
Line-up
Sasu Heimolinna: Drums
Tommi Laitinen: Guitar
JP Heimolinna: Guitar
Eetu K: Vocals
Marzo Riverend: Bass
Tracklist
1. Kiss With a Fist
2. Drowning Me
3. Blacklist
