RULE: RULE EP

GENRE | VINTAGE METAL
VERDICT | FAVORITE CONCERT JACKET
LABEL | SELF-RELEASED
RELEASE | 8.3.12
FACEBOOK.COM/RULETHEBAND

On the whole, a band covering a specific genre is way better than one covering a specific band. They’re a hell of a lot more fun, usually self-aware enough to realize they’re not actually Slash or Bon Scott—they just really dig their respected scene, and would like you to do the same. Rule’s self-titled EP, a pleasing shot of American/British heavy metal sounds, harkens back to the big-haired days of yore without treading into fanboy ridiculousness.

Perhaps most noticeable on the EP is how tight the band actually sounds.

Over frontman Mike Soltoff’s Dio/Bruce Dickinson-inspired vocals, chugging guitars and pounding drums keep in time at a professional-grade pace. Not to mention John Brookhouse’s solos on “Das Brute” and “Bloodletter” are pitch-perfect 1982 face-melters. It’s one thing to expect people to like your group based on its influences, but it’s another thing entirely to actually play like one’s idols.

RULE
WITH DOUBLE NINES, HESSIAN, MY NEW DISASTER, AND I HAVE EARS

FRI 8.3.12
TT THE BEAR’S
10 BROOKLINE STREET
CENTRAL SQUARE
CAMBRIDGE
18+/8PM/$9 ADV. $10 DOOR
@TTTHEBEARS
TTTHEBEARS.COM