still living

The folks from odayrocks have written another strong review for Still Living! Here’s what they had to say about the disc:

The curiously titled “YmmiJ” is the new album from Brazilian Melodic Hard Rockers STILL LIVING to be released tomorrow December 8. It marks a new step for the band as with this third effort STILL LIVING have created some kind of a concept, however all songs work on their own wrapped with infectious hooks that will appeal to any lover of classic / 80s influenced melodic hard rock.

While most of the songs in “YmmiJ” are linked by a story about modern age tribulations of a guy called Jimmy (hence the album’s title, his name backwards “YmmiJ”), you can easily enjoy all songs separately.
And what really matters with STILL LIVING is their music, melodic hooky rockers very well rounded.
‘Reign of Pills’ opens the album in great form somehow reminding me of MISS BEHAVIOUR formula of sweet guitar riffs, nice keyboards, melodic verses and a catchy chorus. Renato Costa owns a proper tenor rocking voice for this kind of rock – a bit accented but it provides an exotic charm, while the rest of the guys are solid musicians.

Harder, second cut ‘On the Edge’ is driven by sharp guitars, even increased on the bouncy rocker ‘Call of the Night’, but next ‘Dusty Blue Shadow’ returns to a familiar Melodic Rock territory.
‘The Man I’ve Become’ is one of my favorites, with a clear American Melodic Rock influx in the JOURNEY vein complete with lovely keyboards and an anthemic feel. ‘King of Nothing’ provides a groovy rocking rhythm and darker lyrics, followed by the quite solid ballad ‘Haunted’ with fine clean guitar creating atmosphere.

The midtempo AORish ‘Peace or Pieces?’ musically brings to my mind Kevin Chalfant’s TWO FIRES, ‘I.M. Jimmy’ rocks with an European touch (compared with Italians WHEELS OF FIRE), and ‘Mr. Mirror’ is another good ballad, this time with piano as main instrument.
Reaching the end, ‘Cult of the Rough Awakening’ is more like a hard rocker, then ‘In the Dark’ is the final short spoken interlude (there’s 4 in the tracklist) before closing with the very melodic instrumental ‘As Shallow as It Gets’.

It’s great to hear bands like STILL LIVING keeping the Melodic Rock / AOR flame alive at every corner of the planet.
“YmmiJ” is solid, entertaining record mixing hooks & melodies with a concept story – follow it or not, in any way you will enjoy it.
Strongly Recommended

01 – Reign of Pills
02 – On the Edge
03 – Call of the Night
04 – Dusty Blue Shadow
05 – Listen to Me!
06 – The Man I’ve Become
07 – King of Nothing
08 – Haunted
09 – Peace or Pieces?
10 – Who Are You?
11 – Mr. Mirror
12 – I.M. Jimmy
13 – Jane
14 – Cult of the Rough Awakening
15 – In the Dark / As Shallow as It Gets

Renato Costa – Vocals
Eduardo Holanda – Guitars
Wagner Souza – Bass
Thiago Nascimento – Keyboards
Cleber Melo – Drums

First review to appear for Still Living’s new album Ymmij is from Spanish site ViriAOR. For those (like me) whose understanding of the language is poor; here an English translation:

Still Living is a Brazilian band created in 2004, which would initially release two demos, Still Living (2005) and Believe (2007). After some changes in their training, they release two albums, From now on in 2012 and Humanity in 2015.

Its members are: Renato Costa on vocals, Eduardo Holanda on guitar, Cleber Melo on drums and Thiago Nascimento on keyboards.

YmmiJ, which is the album that concerns us today, is, therefore, his third album that will go on sale on December 8.

The first thing that calls the attention of YmmiJ, is its strange title, I was thinking about the meaning for a while, until I finally hit on it, but I’m not going to advance anything, to see if the readers discover it.

The cover, has a very worked design, is a comic where it shows a bar of drinks and the band playing live, very curious.

After a first contact with the subjects, I notice that there are some cuts that are spoken, it took me a while to realize, it’s a story! what a surprise! It is a narrative conceptual disc that presents spoken parts and dialogues that assemble the songs to reveal the story of Jimmy, a man trapped in alcohol and drugs, fighting against his own demons. Throughout the disc, other characters will appear as they are, Jane and Stranger, the latter is something like a hallucination or perhaps the voice of conscience.

The disc begins with Reign of pills, where the protagonist begins to reveal his tormented life, a half time of melodic hard rock. It reminds me a lot of the melodic style of the current “Italian school”.

On the Edge and Call of the night – are more dirtier rock songs, with an energy that is almost sleazy rock.

In Dusty Blue Shadow – we find Jimmy talking to Stranger, Stranger pretends that Jimmy faces his fears, it is an energetic theme and a catchy chorus.

Listen to Me – (spoken)
The Man I’ve Become – a track in nineties style, remind me, on occasion, to 91 Suite.

King Of Nothing – another up tempo cut, the rhythmic base hits incisively, concluding the subject in a darker way with a heavy riff.
In a more relaxed atmosphere we find Haunted where the voice of Renato Costa shines in its fullness, which is able to find the vocal balance in each theme, whether it is a ballad or a hard rock theme.

Peace or Pieces – a guitar in the most classic style opens a theme that will turn into a half-time with a rough drumming.
Who Are You? – (spoken)

Mr. Mirrow – more complex, consists of four parts, which introduces the Stranger character in the form of a ballad in a splendid vocal and piano exercise, then it will become a second part more cane to finish the final part in a slow and harmonious way.
I.M. Jimmy, like a cry of help from Jimmy, where the voice looks torn with great contribution of keyboards.

Jane – (spoken) conversation between Jimmy and Jane
Cult of the Rough Awakening – energetic hard rock, where Jimmy shows all his frustration.

In The Dark / As Shallow as It Gets – (spoken-instrumental), here the story is concluded, the end of which I will not reveal and an instrumental closure with orchestral arrangements is added, which impregnate an epic character.

Redemption is an added track for the European edition. Accompanying the piano, magnificent vocal harmonies, spectacular, it would have been a shame to leave it out.

It is an album of melodic hard rock, intelligent and ambitious, where the lyric intention and the instrumentation are found, constructing a stimulating story, in which although the hardrock themes are very meritorious, but the middle times and the ballads are the jewels of the disk. The interpretation of Renato Costa favors the different atmospheres to give meaning to the concept of the disc.

Oh and by the way you have already discovered the riddle of the disc title?

Thank You Alicia!