ALBUM REVIEW: Airbourne - “Breakin' Outta Hell”

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 23/09/2016

Label: Spinefarm Records

No wheels are being reinvented here, no boundaries are being broken down and nothing is being challenged. You get eleven tracks of uniformly good rock. The album kicks major arse, it's rock n' roll, I like it and if you like AC/DC and/or songs about rockin', drinkin', fightin' and fuckin' then you will too.

“Breakin' Outta Hell” CD//DD//LP track listing

1 Breakin’ Outta Hell 

2 Rivalry 

3 Get Back Up 

4 It's Never Too Loud For Me 

5 Thin The Blood 

6 I'm Going To Hell For This 

7 Down On You 

8 Rocked Like This 

9 When I Drink I Go Crazy 

10 Do Me Like You Do Yourself 

11 It's All For Rock 'n' Roll 

The Review:

Airbourne are, without doubt, the foremost soundalikes to AC/DC of the current era. That is not criticism, either. What Airbourne offer is no frills, working class rock n' roll. Nothing fancy, nothing new. Lots of protestations about being “born to...” do certain things, whether it be rocking or killing or living fast or drinking loads or what have you.

Much like their heroes Acca Dacca, they deliver either quick or mid paced songs and are not afraid to crank up their amps and let the volume do the talking. If you have heard “Runnin' Wild”or “No Guts No Glory” or “Black Dog Barking...” or anything they may have put out as a B-side, you know what to expect here.

Over the course of eleven tracks, the band impressively run the gamut of Scott and Johnson era DCwith a good measure of Rose Tattoo thrown in. From the fast paced title track to the slower chug of “Rivalry”and ” Get Back Up” and then beyond that the band play it hard and tight. No messing, no fuss- straight from the bar rooms of small town Australiato a local Academy venue near you. Airbourne's success is hard to begrudge them; if you like AC/DC, you'll like this. AC/DC are a big band, one of the biggest of all time even,  so if Airbourneeven tap into a small percentage of the potential fan base then they are set to tour and tour and tour with an album every two years for good measure.

A track by track critique here is largely pointless, suffice it to say that I, on balance, prefer the faster paced material but can find nothing wrong with any of the songs here. The performances by all band members are excellent- some great vocals from Joel O'Keefe and his brother ably holds down the beat while the whole band coalesce into a lock tight unit. There are some cracking riffs here and there; the one for “Down On You”is a killer (and the track is a hymn to cunnilingus- what did you expect? Subtlety?!). Only two songs contain the word “rock” here, but they are both predictably badass.

No wheels are being reinvented here, no boundaries are being broken down and nothing is being challenged. You get eleven tracks of uniformly good rock. The album kicks major arse, it's rock n' roll, I like it and if you like AC/DCand/or songs about rockin', drinkin', fightin' and fuckin' then you will too.

“Breakin’ Outta Hell” is available here

Band info: official|| facebook