Sovversivo describe themselves as a hard rock band. There's no pretentious sounding adjective. They just want to rock. And what is wrong with that?

Everything about them is charmingly naff. The picture on the back makes them look like Machine Head or something (a chap, who I can only assume is the drummer, is wearing a bandana, like it never went out of style). You think it's going to be really heavy, until you give it a listen and realise that it's basically Bon Jovi.

But you know what? It's actually not so bad. It's histrionic and cheesy in a way that doesn't make me want to hunt down and violently kill everyone who thinks they can get away with sending toss in the mail. I mean, why they'd send a copy to an extreme metal site like Chronicles of Chaos is beyond me, but they're managing not to annoy me. Too much.

Maybe it's my hangover, or my general apathetic malaise, but I'm willing to forgive Sovversivo their melodramatic, over-earnest tendencies, and give them a vaguely positive review. They can write a pleasant rock song and they've produced their record well. Would I buy it? Fuck no. Would it render me an angry wreck if someone stuck it on in a pub? Not really.

This all sounds like damningly faint praise, but it's actually not. I generally thought Sovversivo were OK. It's not my thing at all, and one listen is all I'd probably give it, but if you're into melodic rock, there's much worse.