Wicked Smile -'Delirium' EP - released 1 July 2020

Thankfully not everything that lands in my inbox needs filtered away to the junk file. It’s admittedly been a slow week but, just as I thought the weekend would bring no new music, this little beauty arrived.

Here we have the debut EP from Australian heavy rockers Wicked Smile, the brainchild of Danny Cecati (ex Pegazus and Eyefear) who provides the vocals and Stevie Janevski (The Radio Sun and ex Black Majesty) on guitar. It’s produced by none other than Paul Laine of Danger Danger and The Defiants fame, who also plays bass on the EP as well as providing backing vocals throughout.

Bear in mind that these boys are no strangers to the circuit. They’ve released 25 albums between them and have played at some of the worlds biggest rock and metal events Wacken Open Air, Masters of Rock and Hard Rock Hell to name but a few, so this is far from their first dance.

‘We Fall’ kicks off the proceedings, an up-tempo rocker that’s received a phenomenal response world-wide. Indigenous sounds welcome a sledgehammer sized riff that hits you right between the eyes. It’s hard edged melodic metal and the chorus is a pure 80’s metal trip - think Priest mashed up with Dio and Skid Row and you won’t be far out. You can see why the fanbase demanded more after this one was released as a single not so long ago.

Next up is ‘Stronger’, a song written by Stevie to highlight the issue of bullying in schools and society in general. This is clearly an important subject and worth speaking about - check out the site Metalheads Against Bullying on Facebook, an ever-growing community. This is well-paced commercial metal with real swagger, anthemic and has a killer chorus where you can clearly hear Laine wailing in the background. The production is first class.....but you’d expect nothing less with Laine producing and his old bandmate Bruno Ravel mastering the release.

‘Loves Got A Hold on You’ is a mid-tempo Dokkenesque mover. I doubt old Don could get anywhere near the heights of Danny’s vocal performance here. Superb stuff and, with the full-on harmony of the solo, it’s memorable right from the off.

My favourite track in this little collection also happens to be the last. ‘Daze of Delirium’ is soaked in the 80’s, syncopated riffing with much consideration in the mix pushing the band to go all out with their performances. It’s harmonies buzzed around in my head long after I'd taken my headphones off.

So there you have it - if the 70’s and 80’s in particular floated your boat then this is definitely for you. That’s not to say that this in any way leans too heavily on the past, it’s just clear where a lot of the influences come from. It’s certainly classy enough to stand up against current competition. The band have done their homework and it shows.

My only disappointment is that it’s not a long player, but it does much to whet my appetite for more.

SF