Review: Anthony Gomes - Praise The Loud

Review: Anthony Gomes – Praise The Loud

Rat Pak Records (April 25^th, 2025)

Reviewer – Grant Foster

‘’You take some Muddy Waters and you turn it up to ten.‘’

The first line from the title track of Anthony Gomes’ new album. I can’t remember how or when it was that I first hear of Anthony Gomes. Was it an advert on Facebook? It might well have been.

But I was hooked. I ordered his 2024 remix of ‘Peace, Love and Loud Guitars‘ – corking album! The voice. What a voice. It oozes soul, it bleeds rock and roll and it’s got that true grit touch. But mainly Gomes is a blues rock guitarist. All though that does him a disservice I feel, because I think he could play any rock style with, well, style. Plus he doesn’t overplay.

But what about ‘Praise The Loud‘?

The title track is a call to arms built on a guitar riff that grooves a mile wide. More rock than blues.

‘Nextflix and Chill‘ – great title – is all but prime ZZ Top in name. ‘’Why don’t you come over babe? Yup, that kinda chillin’! Tasty fretwork on offer here.

‘Inside Out‘ is a perfect example of how AG fits the guitar around the vocal line. They don’t clash in any way.

‘Meet My Maker‘ is the kind of song you’d hear playing over the end credits of Tombstone or Deadwood. The chorus has an almost gospel feel due to the help of the female backing vocals. Moody and brooding.

‘Electric Blues Crusade‘, main riff aside, is a tad paint by numbers, although the chorus is annoyingly good.

Then AG throws the book right out of the window and gets swampy groovy heavy with ‘Black Diamond Heavy‘. The way the drums are syncopated with the guitar make this a real jewel.

‘Rock and Roll Bluesman‘ is where AG is right now. He straddles the format of the blues with rock overtones. ‘’I don’t care if they love or hate me, gonna turn it up so they won’t forget me.’’

Half, boogied and bloozes its way through proceedings. It’s a foot tapper in the sunshine with a cold beer.

Heart wrought blues is a difficult thing to nail. AG’s vocal and guitar work means Love Song Gone Wrong stays the right side of any pastiche that can be levelled at it.

‘In The Name Of The Blues‘ is heavy blues. Not metal blues, but hard blues. If you hear it, you’ll know! That main riff is one for the air guitarists.

‘Blame It All on Rock and Roll‘ doesn’t really do it for me. Maybe it doesn’t reach the high standard of the other tracks and it feels a little generic to these ears.

Overall, Anthony Gomes and his band – and I should say that the drummer and the bassist are no slouches and compliment perfectly what’s going on in and around them – have come up with another strong album.

Praise The Loud indeed!