bluesbunny.com reviews Splashed

You don’t often get an album that sounds like it was recorded before yesterday yet that’s exactly what “Splashed” by Mad Painter is. An album that, whilst of this time, sounds like it is of another, nearly forgotten, time and place. 

I shall explain. Mes enfants, there was a time when rock music had evolved into a heady mix of musical complexity and intelligent, often poetic, lyrics and those were indeed the halcyon days of tour buses and substance abuse but, lest we forget, the music was always the key to the door. Now, with the music released from an extended stay in rehab, we are currently blessed with the soggy squibs of hard rock and death/melodic/udon noodle metal but, fortunately for us, we now have these seventeen songs from Mad Painter that throw all the stylistic keys from those rose tinted days of yesteryear into the Ikea brandy glass and start up some serious organ swinging. 

The lyrics betray an acerbic sense of humour with some decidedly theatrical overtones taking these songs well past the showtune stage and right on into the ironworks. You can’t pull off songs like these without some serious musical backup and that is indeed present with all those crochets and quavers – cheesy, of course – being knitted into the kind of sordidly syncopated sweater that is not just for Christmas. 

I’d call “Splashed” diffidently quirky and, in a way, this album is like all those Rick Wakeman albums that you got for much cheapness from the local charity shop. You know that it isn’t trendy to like them but no rational person could ignore the fact that the music contained therein is both clever and entertaining. Boom, boom, pass the bong as the fox used to say. 

Best song: “Samurai” 

Verdict: Amuses the ears longtime.

Mad Painter are being signed to Epictronic

http://www.epictronic.com/

Mad Painter are being signed to Epictronic, an Italian label, for the release of their new (sophomore) album, Splashed!  The album combines heavy rock anthems 1970s style, inspired by the music of Uriah Heep, melodic and bluesy ballads, retro pop - a veritable variety  guaranteed to please different kinds of taste palates. 

The album was recorded during and after the pandemic lockdown, when there could not be more than three persons gathering in the studio at any given time. It took one year to record and another year to mix and master the 17 tracks on offer. The oldest ones, I Don't Know, A Friend In France and Lie To Me, date back to 1997,  way before Mad Painter was born. They were demoed by Alex at the time and shelved for close to a quarter-century, to be revived just now. You Nearly Stole My Heart Away was  written in 2011, and it's meant as a breezy Al Stewart-type tune, although the rhythm pattern is closer to the Zombies "Time of the Season". That's a perfect example of an  evolution of an idea from its embryonic phase to a complete Painter track. Everyone in the band has equal input into the process of arrangement. Illusion and Rock And Roll Samurai were written by Dmitry around 2017 and rehearsed by the earlier lineups of Painter, but didn't make the cut on the debut album. This time,  not only have they become the two key singles on the Splashed album, as well as the promotional videos, also they've evolved to represent the signature Painter sound. There's orchestrated balladry in I've Been A Fool and I Live For Love, both leftovers from the first lineup of the band, as well as pop in the style of early 80s, Love Is Gold. The biggest inspirations for this one were ABBA and Elton John. With all this variety on Splashed, Mad Painter are determined to stick to their signature style and continue creating  heavy rock, driven by organ and guitar, with the main influences ranging from Deep Purple and Mountain to Argent, Bloodrock, Procol Harum and the Small Faces. The recording sessions for the followup to Splashed are already underway.

Buzz Slayers Blog reviews Splashed

https://www.buzzslayers.com/post/mad-painter-releases-splashed