Album Review: Aeraco – Baptized By Fire (Dark Star Records)

Born and bred in Chicago, Illinois, Aeraco are a band offering zero gimmicks, just hard rocking music. Baptized By Fire will be released on the 28th July 2017 via Inverse Records.

The band had this to say regarding the new album:

“We are extremely proud of what we’ve done. All of our careers have led to this point and we feel like we were made to make this album. To say we’re excited would be a huge understatement!”

As hard rocking as they come, Aeraco gets the blood pumping almost immediately with the banging beat of Back With Vengeance.

“Guess whose back!?”

As catchy as the flu but far more fun, It’s a riff-tastic opener that sets up this 13 track album perfectly. It’s exciting with a serious sense of swagger, it sways & swings its way through the mind kicking over rubbish bins before flipping you off.

There are easy comparisons to bands such as Avenged Sevenfold & Metallica but with an ‘old school’ style. Songs like Cum to Rock, Baptized By Fire & Tequila and Lime are jammed packed with glorious hard rock rhythm that will put the biggest smile on your face. These are club floor fillers, fist in the air tunes with Tequila and Lime in particular having such an awesome Van Halen vibe about it. The solo is to die for!

All I Know changes things around a bit being a ballad that unfortunately falls flat. It’s lifeless & pretty boring, out of place with the more imaginative music surrounding it.

The hangover from that track follows into the bland Withered Rose but the bassy beat of In Hell We Trust drags things out of the doldrums.

Any concern that the latter half of the album might be drifting off in to nothingness is dismissed with the gloriously huge sounding, In Vain. One of the best tracks on the album, the guitar riffs & excellently epic vocals combine to create a real feel good song.

The penultimate track, Lone Wolf is catchy & beat driven enough to keep the positivity up into The Outlaw, the final track. One last roll of the groove, guitar led hard rocking dice. No surprises here, just a damn fine finish to a damn fine album.

If you like your metal/hard rock with a real feel good vibe, bundles of riffs & solos then look no further then Baptized By Fire. It’s a slamming record that leaves you with a big smile plastered all over your face.

Aeraco – Baptized By Fire Full Track Listing:

1. Back With Vengeance
2. Cum to Rock
3. Baptized By Fire
4. Stab in Dim Light
5. Tequlla and Lime
6. All I Know
7. Withered Rose
8. In Hell We Trust
9. In Vain
10. Bad
11. Fighting the Fame
12. Lone Wolf
13. The Outlaw

You can order the album now over on Amazon & on iTunes. Check out the band on their official website here, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. You can also hear some of their music over on YouTube & SoundCloud.