Bridgend, South Wales is home to five piece THOSE DAMN CROWS, a hard hitting five-piece dropping their sophomore release, "Point Of No Return" on Earache Records. The album runs at 45 minutes, and contains a whopping thirteen tracks. The band has a distinctive European AOR feel to them, with a vibe similar to SHINEDOWN, ALTERBRIDGE or maybe even HINDER. The album opens with "Who Did It", a mid pace rocker that somehow lyrically never jives with me. The song itself is quite enjoyable, I just find the 'who did it' chorus, a bit off-putting for some reason. Beyond that, I found that "Point Of No Return" is generally pretty darn solid.

The guitar duo of Thomas and Winchurch are very effective, with great riffage and runs,"See The Reaper" and "Kingdom Of Dust" being prime examples. The guitars are prominent in the mix, sometimes too prominent. I found that at times there seemed to be a bit of a "tinny" feel to the guitars that overpowered the contributions of Wood's lowend and even at times Huxford's percussive efforts. Vocally, Greenhall shines. His is a perfect AOR suited voice, actually reminding me of SHINEDOWN's Brent Smith throughout the album.

Track by track, "Point Of No Return" is consistent and solid. The majority of the songs are mid to past paced heavy hitters, "Set In Stone", "Long Time Dead" and "Devil In My Pocket". But I found my highlights in the ballad "Never Win" and the sleaziness that is found in "Sin On Skin" and "Hey Man (Look At Me Know)". In full disclosure, the tameness of Heavy AOR isn't really my preference, though I readily admit I'll find a song every now and then that makes it through my defenses. In way, THOSE DAMN CROWS have done just that. I liked the album, and definitely think that if I liked it even just a little bit, there's likely to be a lot of new fans out there ready to welcome these guys with open arms. So, while it may not lodge a spot within my 2020 Top 10, it certainly may get more listens than some other recent submissions. Definitely worth a listen.