Stainless - Nocturnal Racer/Snakebite (Bonus Tracks) [CD]

High Roller Records, jewelcase, 2 bonus track, Stainless officially started in Portland, Oregon, in 2022. Past and present members have all been active in the Pacific Northwest underground scene, playing in bands such as Black Breath, Long Knife, Lebenden Toten, Halt, Bellicose Minds, Nightfell, Malikili and Ripper. Their first sign of life was the "Snakebite"/"Too Hot To Steal" single (self-released on vinyl). This is now followed by the mini-album »Nocturnal Racer«, consisting of the title track, "Shot For Shot", "Believer" and "The Evil Lies". It was recorded by Evan Mersky at Red Lantern Studio, Portland, Oregon, throughout 2023/2024, produced by Jamie Byrum and mastered by Magnus Lindberg in Stockholm. The material was recorded by Larissa Cavacece (vocals), Mira Sonnleitner (bass), Joe Sugar (drums) and Jamie Byrum (guitar, vocals). Joe Sugar is no longer in the band and has been replaced by Terrica Catwood of the band Time Rift. "I would describe us as hard rock or heavy rock," explains Jamie Byrum. "There are plenty of heavy metal elements in our sound but I think it would be misleading to call us a pure heavy metal band. »Nocturnal Racer« features a much more metal sound than our previous single which was more blues-based." Having moved from Canada to Portland, singer Larissa Cavacece puts her stamp on the Stainless sound with her raw and raspy voice somewhere between Leather Leone and Wendy O. Williams. Jamie Byrum: "Her influences go be beyond Chastain and Plasmatics but I know she's honored to be mentioned in the same sentence. She has a goth background as well as the crustier sounds of bands like Amebix and Sacrilege. Also a big Bowie fan and loves 70's rock. Coincidentally Larissa's introduction to being in bands was fronting a Plasmatics cover band." According to the guitarist (and vocalist), "sex, snakes, motorcycles, fast cars, rock 'n' roll, perseverance, evil and heavy metal are all subjects that seem to fit our music." He continues: "It usually just starts with a line or word that happens to sound good with a riff, and then that will dictate the subject matter for the rest of the song. 'Believer' started as just one word and then somehow turned into a song about the healing power of music." Expect more of Stainless in the not too distant future as the band is already working on the material for their full-length debut album.