A year after unveiling that album after many years of friendship and working together, the cogs of the machine finally aligned, as vocalist Tom Hollister, guitarist Chris Buck, drummer Adam Roberts, added keyboard player Gregg Hollister, bassist Sam Williams and singer Tay Cousins, providing backing vocals that add an extra richness and depth.
One of the most majestic and soulful guitar players, Chris Buck creates a layer of soloing that pierces even the coldest of hearts. Fuse that with a band on another level of musicianship and you have something magical unfolding before you.
Cardinal Black have the blues by the shed load; gravelly and gritty yet anointed with a medicinally smooth wrap, exemplary perfection personified.
From the start, the rich vocals of frontman Hollister have an effortlessly bluesy tone, an almost soulful quality. He has a casual manner, bearded, bespectacled and flat capped, but an arrestingly rich and velvety soulful voice comparable to Terence Trent D’Arby, Darius Rucker or Andrew Roachford. But when you add the excellent musicians around him as well, we have a package that is musical bliss.
They open with two back-to-back bangers, “Terra Firma” and “Where I’ve Been”, with the blues-drenched accents, and the heart-rendering beauty of “Run” sees the low end from Sam Williams’ Rickenbacker swirlingly entwine with Hollister’s vocals, and Buck’s amazing guitar work, laid-back, and soulful.
With a tone that is melodic, but in your face — bright, urgent and edgy – he is an extraordinary musician. Like Jeff Beck, he uses distortion and feedback effects; intensified the effect of bending notes on the guitar; and widened the range of expression that could be coaxed from the guitar.
Posted from: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/reviews/cardinal-black-created-electric-atmosphere-8966639