Bad Bones have the sound, skills and songs to set them apart from the mass ranks of inferior Hard Rock acts.

Several things can be ascertained from this album's opening number. Firstly, 'Me Against Myself' Rocks rather brilliantly and secondly, the production (courtesy of Simone Mularoni) is dynamic. Finally, there is the superb musicianship on display, particularly the punchy bass of Stefano Balocco and, most arrestingly, just how uncannily similar to Mark Rankin (Gun's original vocalist) Bad Bones' accent-less Italian front-man Max Malmerenda sounds. That is until you hear him morph into Gotthard's Nic Maeder on 'Some Kind Of Blues', a song which could have easily slotted into the Swiss Rockers' trio of post-Steve Lee albums.

Moving onward, 'Stronger' is undone by a weirdly off-kilter guitar riff, though 'Rusty Broken Song' soon steers things back on track thanks to its full-throttle, double bass drum-driven AC/DC flavour. The breezy 'A Perfect Alibi' opens with a catchy, tightly-picked riff from guitarist Sergio Aschieris, while 'Shoot You Down' chugs along nicely – there is that great plectrum-driven bass tone again, although the pre-chorus is found wanting to these ears. The closing duo of 'The Race' and the title track are in keeping with the album's cover art theme. The former ranks second only to the opening track in quality, whilst the latter's bruising gang vocals are in contrast to the smoother sounds that preceded it.

With six releases in a decade, Bad Bones have the sound, skills and songs to set them apart from the mass ranks of inferior Hard Rock acts – make no bones about it.

Caesar Barton