The Lucas Warren Project – The Road I Created

The new album of the Lucas Warren Project contains a really wide range of melodic and energetic themes, wrapped up in 8 tracks in total. While this album cannot be described in one general description, let’s have a look at the single tracks, shall we.

I was puzzled when I listened to the first track, ‘A Merrier World’. I was expecting maxed rock, yet in this tune piano and string tracks meet to create a soft and melodic environment. The track works its instrumental magic as a understanding and defensive storyteller that contains these little indicators that something big is going to happen very soon by energetic guitars that appear on the horizoon like dark clouds of thunderstorms.

And as soon as these clouds arrive, forget about an umbrella or a rain coat. ‘The Road I Created’ is nothing for the weak-hearted. Stepping on the pedal regarding rhythm and distorted guitars, the track takes you back to the good old times where rock music was a final statement. This tune takes you for a ride you won’t be able to bypass on this journey. This, ladies and gents, is kickass rock. Period.

To de-escalate things but only a tiny bit, you’ll find yourself in a more positive atmosphere with ‘Cruel To Me’. This track contains the best of both worlds if you will, while you have that undeniable drive and passion woven into the melodic backing and emotive vocals, there’s also this positive element present through the guitar solos, those unexpected synth textures and an almost lightweight backing base. Those extra vocal tracks even create a vintage flavored extra in the tune while you are allowed to groove and sing along.

But don’t get too comfortable in this scenario. With the next track in line, ‘Assume Control’, it feels like you have just been shot into deep space. Sparkling techy elements get you into that ‘lonely’ scenario before you are feeling this special vibe I’d like to call ‘survival mode flavor’. With intense vocals along classic guitar patterns, the tune draws its intensity through the certain moodset it creates. You gotta love this energy lingering in the dark, to a certain degree it really feels like this brute force that fuels the guys to create the music is watching you. (Don’t believe me? Check the mean change at 2:50. Run for your life, that’s what this sounds like.)

‘Blue Light’ is a skilled interlude that creates a widespread atmosphere with almost enchanting exciting melodic progressions. These allow you to breathe again. It’s comforting and relaxing, in other words: the perfect thing you need for having this moment of clarity and rest before you can continue this journey.

The next in line, ‘Knight Break Through’, feels like a perfect anthem to battle your demons, no matter which ones they might be. There’s drive, there’s momentum, and there’s this energetic aura present that allows the tune to change seamlessly between these driving passages and the melodic quiet and defensive parts. You gotta love these sudden, unexpected gear shifts happening in this song, they feel like you’re stepping through several doors, where there is a complete different vibe behind any other door. Those changes are an awesome storyteller, if you ask me. (And, by the way, these are one of the main signature styled moves of the Lucas Warren Project.)

‘Eyes of A Dream’ gets that vintage feel back to the scene. With a very high amount of expressive honest emotion in the vocals, the track transmits its message in the most down-to-earth way possible. For me though, this track is the most ‘alien’ one on the album for some reason, probably because it’s done in a very… let’s call it ‘mainstream’ fashion. What makes the tune irresistible nevertheless is (of course) the changes happening there as well. What starts anthemic and melodic, puts on aggression and speed while the tune progresses.

And with the last one, the album is coming to ‘The End’. An outro that sets off one last blast of the essence of what the album of Lucas and Brandon is all about. Energy. Passion. Intensity. Drive. Melody. Emotion. Aggression. Defiance. And a killer skill set. All this is passing in a final faded out ride to the sunset, if you will.

To wrap it up: the duo of Lucas Warren (Leads Vocals, Drums) and Brandon Hanson (Guitars) from the Bay Area in Northern California set up a really versatile project with this album. It’s a hell of a ride, and it stands its ground in the rock landscape out there.

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