No frills, punchy, aggressive and growly; that's how Hard Rock should be. Italians KNOWING2FLY will soon release their lengthy debut LP, "Here on my Feet". This is primarily a hard rock piece, influenced by a wide range of alt rock and punk sounds; I for one am hearing MOTÖRHEAD, DEFTONES and THE MARS VOLTA.

Opening track "3.2" opens much like a classic Punk Rock track, but with a much more intelligent and (as they proclaim) classy structure. The mixing quality is excellent, and everything pushes through with that perfect amount of growl. Andrea Botti's vocals are rough around the edges and raucous; essentially a perfect fit for the music. One will notice through further listening that the band manages to keep one interested, by adding smatterings of groove and technicality amongst the heavy riffs. "Point Of No Return" sounds much different, and is much more upbeat, leaning possibly towards the sound of 90's Rock. Andrea's voice shines through here, exuding a great amount of power and emotion, forcing his accent to shine through, with adds an interesting touch to the sound. The track starts to show alternative and perhaps even Prog influences part way through, with subtle yet surprising dynamism added to the track's riffs.

This Alt. Rock ingredient is displayed in full force in "You are your only Bystander" - possibly my favorite track on the record, because at the same time I am hearing nods towards DEFTONES, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and ALICE IN CHAINS. The choices in unusual chord progressions give the song an almost mesmerizing flair about the riffs, and a pleasantly surprising (and blistering) guitar solo sings forth. A completely different side to the band is shown in "UnWise"; almost the entire first half of the track is acoustic, overlaid with an enjoyable clean guitar sound. However, the track soon evolves into another strongly punk-influenced atmosphere.

As a Hard Rock album, it is conceptually fantastic. However, I am under the impression it's unusual instrumentation in places, and the acquired taste (which I acquired) of Andrea's vocals may be deemed inaccessible by some.