Review: Sunbeam Overdrive – DIAMA

Style: Grunge, Progressive Metal, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Moon Tooth, Greg Puciato, Cave In
Review by: Christopher
Country: France
Release date: 11 May, 2023

Despite being mired so deep in progressive metal that I write for an obscure blog dedicated to underground music, I do like a bit of alternative rock. Alter Bridge and Tremonti both occupied my favourite band slot for some time in my younger years, and Greg Puciato’s recent sophomore Mirrorcell ranked among my favourite releases last year, and I’ll always check out a new QOTSA record. Prog may be my home turf, but give me some basic rock and I’m a happy listener. 

So Sunbeam Overdrive, a French group who blend progressive metal with alternative rock and grunge influences, should be a pretty logical win for me. The final product is somewhere between Moon Tooth, Greg Puciato’s newest album, and Cave In, which is to say it’s pretty damn good. 

Karim Arnaout’s vocals have a timbre more redolent of Moon Tooth’s John Carbone, as well as the aforementioned Puciato, and he throws in some harsh vocals for good measure. He’s accompanied by grooves and anthemic hooks aplenty. The riffs have a VOLA-ish combination of thickness, complexity and catchiness at times—”Out of Plato’s Cave” wouldn’t feel out of place on Inmazes with its intense riffage and spacier chorus—and the requisite wah-drenched solos and overdriven tone of the best grunge are present and accounted for. 

The heavier and more complex moments prove very satisfying, such as the chaotic riffing that opens “Deaf and Blind”, the psychedelic 5/4 intro of “Shen”, and the more intricate riffing towards the end of “Diamond Shape”. Everything about DIAMA is tasteful and understated. On first listen I thought to myself “is this really all that proggy?” and repeat listens allowed me to pick up on the intricacies that had passed me by before. 

The album ends with a cover of Eddie Vedder’s “Hard Sun” which was written for the film Into the Wild (based on Jon Krakauer’s deeply moving nonfiction book of the same name). It’s a fitting closer, emphasising Sunbeam Overdrive’s grungier side, whilst also allowing them to suffuse what was originally an Americana-tinged acoustic track with their massive metal chords. “Fainted Core”, a bonus, live acoustic version of a demo track, rounds off proceedings, and it’s a very different vibe—if you’d told me it was originally an Alice in Chains track I’d believe you. There’s something rather charming about ending on a couple of such overtly grungy notes, as though Sunbeam Overdrive have shown us where they’re going, and now they just want to pay homage to their inspirations. 

DIAMA impressed me on first listen and continued to impress me with each subsequent listen; there’s something genuine and infectious and even somewhat joyous about it. Maybe it’s because hard rock doesn’t grip me much these days, but Sunbeam Overdrive have managed to. This is a surprisingly self-assured debut and a very satisfying listen from a young group with a bright future ahead of them.

Recommended tracks: Slave to the Void, Diamond Shape, Shen
You may also like: Demians, A Kew’s Tag
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Tentacles Industries – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Sunbeam Overdrive is:
– Karim Arnaout (vocals)
– Tom Abrigan (guitars and vocals)
– Bruno Morgana (bass)
– Laurent Duclouet (drums)