DeadFire – ‘Live or Die’

Initial success was not to be for DeadFire as the band toiled with a Whitesnake-like revolving door of bassists and guitarists but in 2021, they settled on a permanent line-up, consisting of Charlie (vocals), Rich (guitar), Boothy (bass) and the wonderfully named Tunk (drums). No surnames required in DeadFire! They are now very much a band who “play together, tour together, drink together” and with such unity comes increasing success, including European tours and support slots with the likes of Phil Campbell & the Bastard Sons, Hawkwind, Sham 69 and Sister Sin. A few months ago, Rockfiend described first single ‘Anxiety Society’ as “a very funked up form of stoner rock which screams “listen to me”” and added them to the impressive line-up of the inaugural FiendFest festival in November (more on that later!). Can DeadFire continue this upward trajectory with new single ‘Live or Die’, due for release on 13th May 2022?

Starting with a moody, distorted, lone guitar riff that brings memories of The Almighty in their heyday, the intro explodes to life with Tunk’s drums and Boothy’s bass particularly prominent in the mix and some Slash-like lead guitar by Rich in the background building on the riff. Charlie’s gravelly vocals spit out the lyrics with venom, punch and plenty of attitude in a kind of call and response with the infectious riff. By the time the song reaches the chorus, it’s clear that the whole song is based around that one riff… but it’s a hard rockin’, groovin’, sweaty, beer and whisky soaked riff that will rip your hi-fi speakers to shreds, perforate your eardrums and shatter your granny’s old crystal decanter with its sheer heaviness and power! As Charlie shouts “do I live or die” in the chorus, and indeed throughout the rest of the song, there’s a clear similarity to the legendary Bon Scott of AC/DC! Charlie’s vocals aren’t quite as nasal or high pitched but there’s a definite similarity somewhere along the line in tone and phrasing. Perhaps if you play an AC/DC record at half speed, you might hear what I mean! Rich’s guitar solo is straight outta Slash’s playbook and I’d probably bet there’s been some influence by ‘The Cat in the Hat’ in his playing over the years. No bad thing!

With a runtime of only 2 minutes and 53 seconds and the entire song literally based around one riff, ‘Live or Die’ isn’t a particularly complicated song. But DeadFire didn’t set out to compose the modern version of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ or to be nominated for an Ivor Novello award. Quite frankly, their main mission was to shake your speakers, kick your ass and make sure you have a great time … and by God, they succeeded! ‘Live or Die’ is ‘Appetite for Destruction’ era Guns N’ Roses with Bon Scott on vocals, Lemmy on bass and the volume and heaviness turned up to eleven! It’s denim and leather-clad rockers headbanging and moshing to the music! It’s everything we love about hard rock and metal! This track rocks so hard and uses so much energy that ‘the northern lights of old Aberdeen’ could very well suffer a power surge!

Check out ‘Live or Die’ at the earliest opportunity, share it with your friends and head to the band’s website or Facebook page to learn more. If you like what you hear and want to headbang with them in a live setting, buy tickets for FiendFest at Ivory Black’s, Glasgow from 18th-20th November 2022. With DeadFire on this kind of form, it’s sure to be a rock festival you won’t forget in a hurry!

Who said Aberdeen doesn’t really produce rock bands? Certainly not the guys in DeadFire!