Eye to Eye

Album review

It's 2021 and, after a six-year absence with band members spread over the globe, The Datsuns are finally back with their seventh studio album, Eye to Eye. A record that was well worth the wait, the album was largely written over video calls due to the global pandemic and kicks off with the brain-melting guitar riff of lead-off track, 'Dehumanise'. In fact, Christian Livingstone's guitar is the driving force behind the hard-edged tracks on the record, including the stand-out 'Warped Signals', with solos layered across tracks such as Brain to Brain offering up a monolithic wall of fretboard mastery channeling classic Maiden and Megadeth.

'Raygun' has a Randy Rhoads vibe, with the energy rising and falling as the band take a breathe, before diving back in to this high-energy album. 'Moongazer' takes the listener down an avenue of amped-up blues riffs, with the ghost of The White Stripes in the room, but the pinnacle of this album is 'Suspicion' with its perfect blend of The Datsuns' two main influences. This time the blues is all in the vocal, layered over high-gain, high-energy shredding, creating what might become a definite track for the band.

The Datsuns have continued to evolve over the years and this album is yet another intriguing step in the journey. Eye to Eye is a melting pot of hard rock, psychedelia, blues and metal. A smorgasbord of head-noddingly good songwriting and production both entrenched in the past while helping define the future of rock music. A big statement album that will be sure to help cement The Datsuns 'position as one of New Zealand and the South Pacific's finest exports