STATIC FUSE
Static Fuse (independent) 2008
1. Stop Throwing Stones (5:00)
2. Faith Hope And Love (4:13)
3. Not Forsaken, Not Forgotten (4:31)
4. Faded Glass (5:00)
5. A Better Life (3:10)
6. Dreaming (6:54)
7. Blues At Dusk” [instrumental] (2:49)
Static Fuse is a duo made up of Sonia Sauruk (vocals) and Ian Keith Hafner (guitars and bass). Together these two create an album that is a classic hard rock/heavy metal album. The songwriting is simplistic and refreshingly so. The duo do not seem at all concerned with creating some new style, or trying to duplicate the sounds of more popular bands. Rather they are quite content with just giving their listeners some catchy 80’s influenced hard rock with hooky choruses and some AC/DC inspired guitar riffs. (Check out the main riff of “Stop Throwing Stones”). There are even some meaty guitar solos on this one. Ian’s playing isn’t overly technical, but just fits the music. His lead playing is most certainly based in the 70’s guitar heroes, with a big nod to Ace Frehley. (I know Ian and I know Kiss is a big influence on his sound.)
Sonia’s voice is smooth and pleasant, yet powerful. She isn’t pretending to be an opera singer in some dark goth band. At times she reminded me of Wendy Kaiser of Rez. Her voice mixed with the melodic hard rock reminded me of Ransom or Arsenal, two forgotten gems of the 80’s.
Overall, the songwriting is what you might expect from a band like Static Fuse. There are the more riff driven hard rockers such as “Stop Throwing Stones” and “A Better Life”, the more melodic numbers such as “Faith, Hope And Love”, a commercial ballad “Dreaming”, a bluesy, melodic, power ballad titled “Not Forsaken, Not Forgotten” and closing out the album is straight forward blues instrumental simply titled “Blues At Dusk”.
As might be expected from the song titles, all this music is wrapped up with some very personal, faith based lyrics. Those turned off by overtly preachy lyrics have nothing to stear clear of here. Rather, the lyrics are an artistic expression of the artist’s faith with a focus on inner searching and hope. Very cool lyrics in a world where music seems to have become nothing more than anger, hatred and depression.
Static Fuse is an independent release, yet the production isn’t bad at all. Each instrument is clearly heard and the overall production is good. Fans of classic Christian 80’s hard rock and metal such as Rez, Whitecross, Barnabas, and the aforementioned Ransom and Arsenal would do themselves well to check out Static Fuse.