Points North - Points North

Whether it’s a band or an artist that would sparkle a little light in my ears, I know it’s going to be an adventure for me. And one of the bands that have the sounds of the sparkle is Points North. The band have a huge following in the West Coast area in California for opening bands such as UFO, The Aristocrats, Michael Schenker, The Winery Dogs, and Al Di Meola to name a few.

With a melodic and instrumental rock rhythm to their sound, Points North have taken me by surprise. The band considers guitarist Eric Barnett who was a finalist in the Superstar competition in 2008’s Guitar Player magazine, Uriah Duffy on Bass from Whitesnake, and Kevin Aiello on drums. They have a dosage of Prog, Jazz Fusion, and Hard Rock rolling into one giant milkshake to enjoy serving.

This is their follow up to their 2012 debut, Road Less Traveled, and this is their sole self-titled second album released this year on Magna Carta Records. This is also my introduction to the band’s music. And from the moment I put the album on from start to finish, I knew right away Points North have just blew the door down with a cannonball at the right moment with an opening track just hits you with a blistering introduction for the ride of your lifetime for Ignition.

With intense riffs, drumming, and thundering bass line, the band are driving down the highway with a harder vibration. And it also resembles the elements between Rush’s Moving Pictures-era and The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Inner Mounting Flame through different time changes by going from fast to mellow mid-tempo rhythms that have unexpectedly make it a staggering opener to kick things off with a big bang.

Uriah comes in center stage as he takes his Bass into higher levels with the rising and ascending beats towards the Northstar. His Bass playing is a journey into the world of music as he goes through the sounds of Geddy Lee and Stanley Clarke while Colorblind introduces vocals for the first time, pays homage to the British Steel-era of Judas Priest that shows that the trio can knock it out with a homerun anthem.

The 7-minute epic Turning Point (La Villa De Villers) shows Points North going into a driven and erupt sound that go back into the realms of Rush’s glory days in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. It feels almost as if the trio could have recorded this during the Hemispheres sessions. There are touches of Prog, Hard, and Melodic Rock thrown into the passages and the midsection shows a relaxing side on the highway before kicking back into the fast mileage for a finale on the last few minutes.

On both Foxes & Cougars and the roaring closer, Killer Pounder, it’s a trip back in time of the ‘70s hard rock sounds that makes you crank up the radio to a maximum level. With a blues-rock and Zeppelin-sque touch on the two pieces, I could imagine the trio are having a great time with this song filled with guitars cranking it up through the rhythm and riffs, drums going into different areas and unexpected bass lines, that will have jaws dropping at the exact moment.

This is my fourth time listening to their second album. I was blown away the moment I put it on and was on the edge of my seat and Uriah, Eric, and Kevin have done an excellent job creating the dynamics in their instruments. And astoundingly, they are the real thing to explore into their music and get ready for an undertaking voyage with Points North.

Here is a video of the band performing one of their pieces, Ignition from the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzrhkEvXYak&feature=youtu.be