Listen to GIANT WALKER
UK alt-metal outfit Giant Walker are a brilliant new band. Kind of. The four members actually formed almost a decade ago, as Xero, but fast forward to the COVID pandemic and, like a lot of people around the world, they found themselves going through a kind of transformation.
In their own words, “It’s been a long time coming, but as we have grown as a band, XERO no longer represents the music that we write and feel so passionately about. We feel that our new material deserves a fresh start and after the past two years we’ve all had, this is the perfect opportunity to change.”
And they’re not wrong. So far, vocalist Steff, guitarist Jamie, drummer Alex, and bassist Jordan have released four songs under their modern moniker, and they all feel like building blocks of something original, and something outstanding. There are traces of their old sound in each, of course- dark, shifting riffs, and Steff’s strong vocals- but there are also fresh, clever textures, bigger melodies, and more potent production.
‘Past the Peak’ is the best of the bunch for me, an exercise in pacing, power, and addictive Deftonesian dynamics. Cool video too.
There’s more music coming- a debut album, ‘All in Good Time’, is due out next month- and a tour in June. And then, considering this Newcastle-via-Guildford bunch have emerged from the most tumultuous time in modern history sounding better than ever, global domination I guess.
For fans of The Contortionist, Deftones, Flyleaf, and riffs that sound like they could fuel a space rocket.