Sometimes inspiration is found when you least expect it. For Like A Storm’s latest album’s title and vision came from the undergrounds of the Parisian Catacombs. The captivated imagery brought to life certain metaphors for the band; it helped create the deepest and hardest hitting album yet.
Auckland, New Zealand hard rockers, Like A Storm were formed in 2006 by the three Brooks Brothers. However they would not hit the US scene until 2009 when they toured with Creed. Their debut album, The End Of The Beginning came in on the Billboards New Artist Charts at #61. They supported their single off the album, “Chemical Infatuation” by touring relentlessly during 2010 with acts such as Puddle of Mudd, Shinedown and Drowning Pool.
During the next couple of years the band remained busy entering the studio to record Like a Storm Unplugged in 2011 which featured acoustic guitar, piano and other instruments showing off the band’s massive talent. In 2012 they recorded an unplugged DVD, Southern Skies along with an EP titled Chaos Theory, Pt 1. The second single off of the EP, “Love The Way You Hate Me” stayed on the Sirius XM Octane at #1 for 5 weeks, making Like A Storm the highest charting New Zealand band in US Radio History. The band embarked on it’s first US headlining tour in 2013 to support, Chaos Theory, Pt. 1 called “Unleash The Chaos”.
By 2013, the band put Worlds Collide: Live from the Ends of the Earth, a live double album which featured a hard rock section recorded during the American tours. The second part an acoustic recorded in their homeland of New Zealand. All the while, the band’s popularity was growing with each tour creating a grassroot following. Over the years they have toured with bands such as Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Sevendust, Three Days Grace, Skillet and Ozzy Osbourne. They have played festivals such as Rock on the Range, Shiprocked!, Download and more.
The band’s second full length album, Awaken The Fire was released on February 24, 2015 on Another Century Records. The band’s latest and third album, is Catacombs which was released June 22, 2018 on RED MUSIC. The Brooks’ brothers self-produced the album. The band is made up of Chris Brooks on lead vocals, didgeridoo, guitar and keys/programming; Matt Brooks on lead guitar, vocals and keys/programming; Kent Brooks on bass and keys/programming and Zach Wood on drums.
Catacombs is an album unlike any other of the band’s previous works. It is the heaviest album they have written musically and lyrically. The band’s feelings that were evoked walking the Parisian catacombs as stated by Kent Brooks “on the outside, we’re told to project a ‘happy’ and ‘normal’ exterior; but just below the surface there’s a much darker truth we hide”. These emotions allowed the band to create and bring forth a title that had a deeper meaning. Zach Brooks went on to state “ the whole excursion hit us as a metaphor for burying aspects of ourselves we don’t want to face.”
The first track off the album “Devil Inside” happens to be the first single. It has a haunting beginning with the didgeridoo playing. The song turns heavy with vocals that turn from screams to powerful. The guitar, bass and drums play steady throughout the tune and add great electronica elements. The chorus is catchy and an exhilarating guitar solo brings the song together.
“Catacombs”, the title track off the album is going to be a fan favorite. With heavy guitars, a strong drum presence and unwavering bass playing makes this song a powerful song. Vocally the passion and fury proves the band has an important message that needs to be heard. The keys and programming add richness to the heaviness of the tune.
One of the most powerful songs musically and lyrically on the album is “Bullet in the Head”. Starting off with the didigeridoo and a female voice saying “I need you” with Chris screaming “like a bullet in the head” sets the mood for this hard rock song which repeats during the chorus. With an amazing breakdown section of the didgeridoo which leads into a guitar solo in the middle of the song shows just how powerful and diverse the musicians in the band are.
The final track on the album is “Pure Evil” with an electronica string intro that turns into a heavy double time drum background. It allows the listener to get a taste of what is to come which is a hard rock song that has melodic and powerhouse vocals . It showcases the whole band’s ability to write a great tune that processes a strong message about “hypocrisy of political and religious power”. There is a killer guitar solo that fits perfectly with the mixture of harmonious and hard hitting musical performance.
Like A Storm has created their hardest rock album to date. Bringing the depths of the dark catacombs metaphor to life through music and song making it brilliant music. Being unafraid to tackle subjects that many artists might stray from makes Catacombs an album any true hard rock fan should have in their collection.
