Taking from past rock masters such as Queen and Iron Maiden and fusing influence prised from contemporary heavyweights such as Shinedown, Alter Bridge and Black Stone Cherry, Fahran are poised to take their alluring blend of heavy rock to the forefront of the UK scene. Formed out of the ashes of Toxic Federation, Fahran came to life in 2012 and their current line up consists of Matt Black (Lead Vocals), Jake Graham (Guitar), Chris Byrne (Guitar), Joshua Ballantyne (Bass) and JR Windsor (Drums).
After spending much of their youth together, knowing one another from various local bands within the area, Fahran had an inbuilt chemistry and soon put together an accomplished set. The Brit Rocksters promptly put out their self-produced and self-titled debut album. The record picked up great reviews and helped to form a base for the band. However to move forward, the band decided that a new name was warranted to reaffirm their new direction, which pointed to a darker, heavier and far more mature sound. The past eighteen months has seen Fahran go from strength to strength; the rock crew have enjoyed success as the openers on the debut I AM I tour in October 2012, as well as supporting UK rock troubadours, Heaven’s Basement.
In addition, the band appeared at BT London Live in London’s Hyde Park, as part of the London 2012 celebrations and have made appearances at prestigious festivals such as Bloodstock and Download Festival. However in 2013, the band suffered a set-back when their original bass player, Alex Stroud, and singer, Nick Whitcroft, left the band. Fahran consequently drafted in new bassist Josh Ballantyne and new singer Matt Black, who after entering the fold, have breathed new life into Fahran’s already abundant sound. The quintet are now fully revitalised and have just completed work on their sophomore album ‘Chasing Hours’. The album is quite an achievement, packing together neatly bonded heavy riffs with intricate and imaginative lead breaks backed by the powerful pipes of Matt Black. The record hits you on all fronts and fuses intensely contagious vocal lines, a stout rhythm section, and high paced guitar licks. Their new single ‘I Heard A Joke Once’ delivers a hefty blow and their previous single ‘Take This City Alive’ lights up proceedings, along with the fantastic ‘Some Kind Of Family’ and the melodic guile of ‘Storms We Ride’. The band have produced a blazing and admirable slice of heavy rock, and armed with an army of fans, the stage is set for the band to kick on and break out to the nation.
What the guys have produced is a set of 13 songs that clearly have that modern rock/metal sound of the likes of Alterbridge et al, whilst blending it with thevery pure AOR vocaltones of Matt Black. I have had the pleasure of hearing Matt sing live and, I’ll be honest, when I heard about him joinig Fahran I wasn’t sure what to think – I mean, the singer with Serpentine and Foreigner’s Journey with a “metal” band? Well, who knew? What a brilliant mix. Great songs witha hard edge, softeed by the vocals from Mr Black … awesome!
Not just on reord are they great, either! Having witnessed them recently (yeah, obviously at The Railway!), Fahran are perfectly tight and have a sound that gels in a way tosuggest they’ve had this line up for …. well, forever! I can’t wait to see them on their upcoming tour with IAMI and Ajenda. Bring it on boys … the world is your oyster!
“Chasing Hours” is available now.
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