Label: Self released
Date: February 27th, 2021
I am coming from a really small town in western part of Serbia. A few bars, one park, two bigger companies and a lot of meadows and mountains. Sounds boring, huh? Yeah, it is, pretty much.
As we know these small conservative places brought good artists to music world. Just remember Black Sabbath and you will get my point. As a young metalhead I saw very few gigs of local bands in my birthplace and I am very sorry for that. I can say freely, rock and roll is dead in this cold and empty town. To be realistic, good music isn’t that much respected in my village. It’s time for resurrection and I think a miracle happened with the release of “Bite Down Hard” of a hard rock band called Bulletproof. If you love the vibe of the ’80s and fast solos you are on the right address.
As a newborn among hundreds of hard rock band with similar subjects and sound I honestly thought this won’t be a good listening material. Only reason for that is my raw opinion that something bearable for the ears can come from a local band from Ivanjica.
They changed my mind very soon by the music video for the second song of the album, called “Drinking too much”. I was too excited to hear something that literally hit me back to my high school era and earlier. As the song said rock ‘n’ roll life is the main theme, just to remind us what it is like to go out and have good fun. So, let’s go back to the start.
First song is showing us good music taste of members. That glam sound, much like Guns ‘n’ Roses with rich solo is one though combination. “Midnight ride” definitely deserves the main place on the album. Good start for now. I know Mr. Nemanja Stojanović for a long time now but I’ve never looked at him as a singer because of his unreplaceable shredding on guitar, but he convinced me that his vocal ability can reach even Brian Jones’ level with a song “Blow my fuse”. With future experience and his iron rock ’n’ roll spirit in a few years his voice will be remarkable.
AC/DC as their main inspiration takes a lot of space on the album. Maybe too much. From the voice to the just instrumental parts AC/DC is omnipresent. Not a bad thing of course, some bands will kill to sound like them but I expect in the new material a little bit more originality because I know they can do it. This is not their first band. Lyrics such as “Come and love me”, “You make me rock” and “Another shot of love” are also on Motley Crue and AC/DC level but that theme is taking head place in this genre. I can’t imagine singing about anything different with this kind of groove. With a combination of melody and Mr. Stojanović’s scream, lyrics get their own dimension.
Only one thing that didn’t leave specific good impression on me are he drums. Pretty simple rhythms, nothing exotic to hear. I know it’s not heavy metal but I hope that they will use more potential of their drummer to get their music even richer.
Guitar solos are melodic just as true rockers like. Every song has them and they fit damn good. One of the best things about this album is the wild energy which is present during every song, from the first to last minute and is not going down under that wild level.
As a person who listened to their music live a few times in different projects, I can tell you that guys leave their hearts on the stage. I can’t wait to hear “Blow my fuse” in our favorite cafe in town. Bulletproof will know what I am talking about. Atmosphere is similar as video for “Drinking too much”, don’t miss your chance to see that. Never get old you guys and rock hard!
