Album Reviews : Taberah – Live…ish!

I honestly had no idea what to expect when this CD arrived in the mail, particularly when I saw the intriguing title of Live…ish!, but this is certainly one of those occasions when the title is apt in describing the music contained on the disc. Taberah hail from Hobart and Live…ish! is just their third recording which is, in their words, “the lovechild of a studio recording and a live performance” and from the moment that Brothers Of The Fire gets things rolling it becomes apparent that this is an apt description indeed.

What we have here is just over thirty minutes of heavy metal that clearly reflects the bands stated influences of the traditional heavy metal sound of Iron Maiden, the rock n roll heart of AC/DC and the theatrics of Queen and, despite being recorded over a weekend at a small theatre, there is a very natural sound about the whole release. Each of the songs are quite straightforward, being built around effective guitar riffs and rhythms, and there is an endearing quality about hearing a band plug in and play with minimal embellishment or effects. Whenever a guitar solo gets played there is the reassuring sound of bass and drums propelling the song onward, no multi-tracked guitars or overdubs here!

Whilst it is the variety of each song that makes Live…ish! such an enjoyable listen, if I was to choose a single song that exemplifies what Taberah are capable of doing it would be The Reaper. It has a darker edge than the other songs, a great heavy guitar riff that forms the backbone of the song and a melodic solo part that clearly sounds like Iron Maiden. There is even an interesting choice of cover songs in the form of Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen to round things off which sticks pretty close to the original version but still somehow manages to fit.

Sometimes you just need a good fix of straight heavy metal and there is no doubt that Taberah amply deliver this without pretension on Live…ish. It will be interesting to see how they retain this dynamic on their debut full-length which is planned for later this year but, based upon what I have heard here, all the pieces seem to be in place for a good result.

7/10

Band: Taberah
Album: Live.ish!
Year: 2009
Genre: Power/Heavy Metal
Label: Self Released
Origin: Hobart, Australia
www.myspace.com/taberahmetal

Track Listing:
1. Brothers Of The Fire
2. The Call Of Evil
3. Stormchild
4. Freedom Or Death
5. The Reaper (Reviewers Choice)
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love