
Live it out loud!
-- Sextrow --
19/07/2018
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Sleaze rock |
■ | Glam rock |
■ | Hard Rock |
Album artists:
■ | Inglorious Ian | Vocals |
■ | Magic Marv | Guitar, backing vocals |
■ | Reckless Rob | Guitar, backing vocals |
■ | Crazy Chriz | Bass, backing vocals |
■ | Mighty Mat | Drums |
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
My first
encounter with Sextrow was a sweet coincidence. I met guitarist Magic Marv at
WildFest 2018 in Geraardsbergen where we both were waiting to get a hamburger!
He needed transport for him, his girlfriend and their other friends to recreational
resort the Gavers and since I knew the area I drove him and his posse over
there after the festival had wrapped up. As a sign of gratitude he later sent
me Sextrow’s debut EP and that’s what I’m shredding right now!
[THE SHREDDING BASICS]
Bitchfield
is the first EP of the Cologne based hard rock act Sextrow. It’s an independent
release and features five tracks for a good 20 minutes of playtime. Right from
the start you can hear the band’s main influences come from classic hard rock
acts like Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Whitesnake and AC/DC. Hell, the EP’s third
track, “Blue(s) Pills” has a very similar structure and pacing to the iconic
AC/DC song Whole Lotta Rosie! The main highlight from this first iteration of
Sextrow is the guitar work, both Magic Marv and Reckless Rob do some great technical
guitar solos throughout the release and together with Crazy Chriz bass and
Mighty Mat drum lines they mostly succeed in giving the EP some legit 1980s
hard rock charm. On the other hand, I didn’t like Inglorious Ian’s vocal
delivery. He brings plenty of catchy choruses, but his overall finesse doesn’t
stand out as much compared to the other band members. His vocals in Bitchfield feel
phoned-in and uninspired and I think he’ll do better if he were to expand his
vocal range and add some more power and conviction to his delivery. At times he
does hint at a more varied vocal range but it isn’t there yet. But I’m
optimistic and I hope he’ll be able to rise up to the challenge in further
Sextrow releases.
[THE SHREDDING VISION]
A simple
front cover featuring the five Sextrowers present on this EP. The band’s logo
is in purple leopard print, personally I’m not a big fan of the design (I would’ve
removed the leopard print and just go for the many shades of purple) and I
wished all band members looked at the camera, holding each other shoulder by
shoulder, just like Marv is doing. That way they would’ve looked more like a
true band of brothers, now two of them look up as if they see a pair of tits
hanging in the air.
[THE SHARPEST SHREDS & BLUNTEST BLADES]
While
Bitchfield’s opening title track was a fast, blood-pumping good start of the
EP, the honor for best track on the EP goes to the second song, Live It Out
Loud! It’s one of the slowest tracks on the album, but it sticks out from the
rest of them because of the epic opening melody and its efficient use of rhymes
(giving the song a very smooth and rhythmic feel) and because of the extremely
catchy chorus. It feels like a true rock n’ roll anthem and I hope Sextrow will
be making more songs like those two I mentioned here. It fits them like a glove.
The same thing, however, cannot be said about Bitchfield’s forth track, My Foxy
Lady. The band attempts to go for a more blues and sleaze rock style but, aside
from a catchy chorus, it felt dragged on in my opinion.
[THE SHREDDER’S SCORECARD]
6 Foxy
Ladies out of 10. A nice effort from a very young German hard rock act that
shows off some good traits in their first release. Although the band commited a
few missteps, I do feel that given time and consistent improvement, Sextrow can
become a truly enjoyable band for hard rock fans everywhere! Here below you can watch a making of video of the EP. Enjoy!