As individuals Four by Fate have certainly notched up an impressive number of years experience within the rock world, forming through Tod Howarth and John Regan’s long lasting friendship from their days in Frehley’s Comet (the post-KISS endeavor of guitarist Ace Frehley) between them having also played/recorded with David Bowie, Billy Idol, Ted Nugent and Peter Frampton to name but a few.
The pair went back on the road together with Howarth providing keys for Cheap Trick whilst Regan was playing bass for John Waite, reconnecting again a couple of years back to record “Breakout“, a cover of the Frehley’s Comet track for a Kiss charity tribute album.
It was the addition of WASP drummer Stet Howland along with Helix guitarist Sean Kelly that would go on to complete the initial line-up of Four by Fate, however a car accident resulted in Howland being replaced by Twisted Sister‘s AJ Pero behind the kit.
The band eventually hit the studio with guitarist Patrick James Gasperini, the opening track on the album became a reworking of John Waite‘s 1980’s single “These times are hard for Lovers” which sets the tone for the final release.
So with the late AJ Pero having contributed drums to half the tracks before his sudden and tragic passing, the band then recruited Rob Afusso from the classic Sebastian Bach era Skid Row to continue where Pero had left off, resulting in “Relentless” being very much a sum of it’s parts and one that fans of late 80’s/early 90’s hard rock (including myself) will most definitely appreciate.
Band photo: Tracy Ketcher
There are times when you’d be forgiven if you thought the album was indeed recorded some 20 plus years ago, but with Jean-Christophe Santalis helping out at the mixing desk the essence of yesteryear has been captured without compromising on modern sound production.
This rings true during tracks such as “Moonshine” and “Rock n Roll Hoochie” whereby they feel live in the studio but with the recording quality to back them up, then there’s also the apparent Kiss influence during “Levee Breech” that will appeal to fans of Howarth and Regan’s earlier work.
It wouldn’t feel right if there wasn’t a power ballad on offer and sure enough “It’s Over Now” delivers exactly that, so get your lighters out and wave your arms side to side for this is up there with the original.
The vocals on “I Give” then hint towards that of the grunge scene for a moment but on the whole Four by Fate have stayed true to their musical roots, doing what they do best and just rocking out, resulting in “Relentless” being one for the purists.
It may have taken a few setbacks along the way but as Tod Howarth and Pat Gasperini are already on the case writing new material for the follow up, they’re going to be hard pushed to improve upon an impressive debut.
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FOUR BY FATE – “RELENTLESS” the album, release date 3rd June via the Amazing Record Co (Europe) and the End Records (USA).
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