Kodiak Jack

06.09.2014

Kodiak Jack being local to me were always one of the bands that I had wanted to see live but events had always seemed to conspire against me every time they played near me. So it was with great delight that I saw them open for Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band at The Joiners in Southampton last week. An electrifying set of pure rock, the band sounded excellent but due to there being four bands on that evening it seemed a far too short set worthy of such a great sounding band.

When Kodiak Jack announced they would be starting their small tour around the UK at The Hobbit in Southampton on Saturday, I had to go and seem them in what I hoped would be a longer set and to hear much more of the band.

It was a late start to the evening but it was worth the hours of waiting just to see them as they were every bit as good as the first time I had seen them the previous week. An energetic set, full of powerful vocals, huge riffs, hooking bass and thumping drums, every song was rock at its very best. With a mixture of songs from their albums and a couple of new songs, Kodiak Jack rocked the venue with their distinct sound, it was loud, it was some of the best sounding rock I have heard in a long time and it was just a brilliant set. Despite two encores as the crowd just hadn’t had enough, as far as I was concerned they could have kept playing until the venue closed.

There is so much more to the band though than just putting on an excellent live performance, Bryn (Vocals), Jeff (Lead Guitar), Jon (Rhythm Guitar/Lead Guitar/Vocals), Kev (Bass) and Keiran (Drums) also know how to harness that classic rock sound and to produce rock albums worthy of any decent music collection. Releasing their debut album Your Death: My Glory in 2011, this was picked up by Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and had extensive radio airplay including a slot on BBC Introducing.

They then followed this with Alhambra, an album recorded in the Sacramento studio of Brian Wheat of Tesla in 2013, with the album being released early this year. Having picked up a copy at the gig, the album is 11 tracks of powerful rock with an epic production. It rocks from start to finish, with every song featuring huge riffs, a dirty rock sound with a tight rhythm throughout the entire album and as soon as you add in the potent vocals, this is an album that blasts the senses from the first notes to the last. Like all rock music at its very best it has to be played loud as anything else is a waste of such an accomplished album that Kodiak Jack have recorded. This is an album that is going to get some serious plays as you just can’t put such an epic rock album to one side, it soon becomes addictive.

With a recent support slot for Tesla in the summer at the o2 in London, a headline slot at the Victorious Festival , an Autumn Tour and with a new album hopefully in the pipeline, Kodiak Jack can only go onto to bigger and better things and with the band sounding this good I have certainly become an instant fan. When a band produce such incredible rock as this, you just know Kodiak Jack is a name that you are going to be hearing a lot more of in the future.

The website for the band is http://www.kodiakofficial.com, where you can purchase both albums and I recommend that you do. You can also hear their great music on Spotify and iTunes. They are also on Facebook and Twitter @kodiakjack666 so give them a follow for all their latest news and check them out when they play at a venue near you as this is definitely a band to see live.