Back with a new album, Wille and the Bandits are a musical diverse three-piece who draw their influences from across the wide vista of rock ‘n’ roll. Having toured with a who’s-who of hard rock royalty, including Deep Purple, Joe Bonamassa and Status Quo, Wille and the Bandits believe Paths to be the first record to truly capture the eclectic influences and visceral energy of the band which, given the strength of 2013’s grow, is one hell of a bold claim. One thing is clear from the outset, paths is an emotionally rich set that benefits from a powerful production that is satisfyingly raw and yet subtly textured. What comes with repeated listens, however, is the depth in the song-writing, making for a very strong record indeed.
Opening the album, One way sees Wille employing his bottleneck guitar on a thunderous piece that feels like Dan Patlansky covering AC/DC and the Levellers all at the same time. With its gang-chant vocals and politicised lyrics questioning the nature of international intervention, the track has considerable bite and it gets the album off to a flying start. Based around a taut groove and tracked on vintage amps, make love is a scratchy, bluesy number that befits greatly from Matt Brooks’ acrobatic bass lines and Andrew Naumann’s thunderous drums. Detailing a protagonist who seeks solace in hedonism, Victim of the night is a tough blues rocker with a strong lyrical conceit and a melody that just won’t quit. An ideal choice for a single, it’s easy to see this one really setting the crowd alight with its driving beat and gritty vocal. Slowing the pace, the folk-infused ballad Four million days is given greater weight by the raw strings that haunt the melody, whilst the latter half has a gorgeous David Gilmour vibe, thanks to the slide work that sees it to its end. A perfect example of a song that incorporates myriad influences and ends up sounding uniquely like Wille and the bandits, four million days is possibly the album’s gorgeous peak, although it does face stiff competition throughout. The first half concludes with the Real World Studio-esque Chakra, a track lamenting the increasingly rapid destruction of the earth and its natural resources. A track that draws from diverse ethnic influences without sounding forced, chakra, boasts the sort of earth-shattering chorus that remains in the head for days on end, helping to reinforce the powerful social message that sits at its core.
The second half of the record kicks off with the smooth groove of Keep it on the down low, a track as influenced by hip hop as blues. With a scattergun vocal delivery on the verse and a chorus to die for, it’s a refreshingly different track that sounds quite unlike anything else out there. Inspired by The Wire, Judgement day is a dark, bluesy number with a sparkling riff at its heart. However, it pales next to how long. Written in tribute to the late Chris Cornell, the album’s emotional heart is laid bare and few artists have managed to so successfully articulate a loss that has weighed so heavy on so many. With Wille employing a vocal style that is eerily similar to Chris’s work with Audioslave, it is a slow-burning and beautiful piece of music that pays perfect tribute to an artist whose work is rightly feted. A more tribal piece, the explosive Find my way is another track that sees Wille incorporating influence from Chris Cornell, with the whole band digging on a latter-day Soundgarden vibe that will rock people’s socks off when they hear it! As the title implies, watch you grow is an ode to fatherhood that works all the better for the simple, yet deeply powerful emotion upon which it draws. Combining the smooth guitar work of Mark Knoppfler with a vocal reminiscent of Chris Cornell, it’s a beautiful song. The final track, retribution, once more takes aim at the successive governments that have so unequivocally failed their people. Bluesy, but with an alternative edge, retribution brings the album to a powerful close, the band referencing AC/DC and Soundgarden as the riffs pile up and Wille declares “I’m talkin’ ‘bout retribution!”
A diverse album that rocks hard when required, but which is equally unafraid to show its heart, paths is quite possible Wille and the Bandits masterpiece. In its latter stages, there are pieces that echo the Beatles-influenced hard rock of latter-day Soundgarden, with Wille’s vocals sounding uncannily like those of the late, bitterly-lamented Chris Cornell – not least on the tribute track how long. With guitar work that is typically stunning and a neat flow to the set that sees the record ebb and flow at exactly the right moments, paths is a phenomenal album and one that will repay multiple listens with interest. 9.5
