Outshine
Sweden's Outshine is Touring Through the Midwest all Month, and Aims to Eclipse Stateside Rock
by Dan Vierck
February 2013
Outshine
I don’t know for sure, but I think the last time Wisconsinites got to see a real live band form Sweden, it was when The Hives played Summerfest 2012. But instead of playing one show then booking it, Gothenburg, Sweden’s premier hard rock quartet, Outshine, are spending nearly the whole month gigging around Wisconsin and the greater Midwest.
Outshine is releasing their fourth studio album, Prelude to Descent, in May. The first single, “Addiction,” is out now digitally, and available all over the internet. This album sees them with a new singer and a more articulate, darker sound.
The new singer has more natural swagger in his voice than he does grit, which is a welcome and somewhat surprising frosting on the band’s dense, riff-heavy cake. The guitar explores a wider dynamic of tones on the single and its b-side, “Here Now,” moving comfortably between blunt-force trauma and searing, high melodic lines.
Their music is dark, but never drowsy. The listener would be a fool to let their guard down. Outshine can move from moonlight and fog to hammers and knives without a quarter note’s notice, and they do so frequently. Songs like “Riot,” from 2009’s Until We Are Dead, showcase the band’s ability to hook an audience with an irrefutable chorus, and toy with them through verses, bridges, and breakdowns, always coming back to the chorus with more gusto and anticipation than before.
Nothing about Outshine is lost in translation. The songs are about drinking, hard relationships, and the love of music. Their sound is deeply rooted in the industrial booming of bands like Black Sabbath, and in the plain vocabulary of frustration and desire touted by every blue-collar hard rock band worth even half its voltage.
And while the music is dark and angry, the band promises to be a good time, live. Their presence, energy, versatility, and experience will have you raising your beer and hooting for more after every song. This is a band that will tear apart an empty room or a full one, and it’s our privilege to supply them with the fullest rooms for the best and most memorable parties.
Outshine is touring the southern and mid-western US all month with Wisconsin’s own Carbellion. The tour has stops in Indianapolis, Des Moines, Racine, Green Bay, and Sheboygan. You can hit up Outshine or Carbellion on any number of websites (Facebook, etc.) for specific dates, or just flip/click and scroll through this rockalicious Maximum Ink!
(4103) Page Views Outshine Online:Outshine
CD: Prelude to Descent Record Label: Dead Tree Music