A true to the genre true blooded piece of delectable country rock music, Joshua Ketchmark’s well executed and framed record sees the Nashville artist deliver droves on droves of effective and purposeful guitar driven melodies, relatable stories, and an underlying sense of togetherness and overcoming hardship that anyone can empathise with. There’s a power to Ketchmark’s voice that allows him to make these songs so inherently anthemic, giving them a certain poise and drive that you want to sing along to. The entire record is a coherent and promising piece of country rock music that affects you at a visceral level with a clear emotional resonance in each piece being beautifully brought to life by Ketchmark’s trademark vocals.
The record really kicks off to me on track two. The more up tempo nature of ‘Covered in Blood’, which opens with a flourishing riff, has you reeled in with eagerness and bated breath for what’s more to come. The vibe switches quite quickly on ‘Follow Me Home’, which moves much more measuredly and slowly, a more progressive and aching ballad. The faint harmonies and subtle arrangement on ‘Deadliest Thing’ might be my personal highlight for the whole record however.
Any country music fan will find things to enjoy on ‘Blood’. It’s a well put together record that’s got buckets of personality and melody to it all.