Artist: Splice
Title: Slice
Label: The 1923 Record Company 1998
Cat #: 86626 10282
Best track: Door

Tracks:
Door
Empathy
Way
Danger
Wanting it All
I Drive
All of Them
Lonely moon
Loser
Hateful goodbyes
Let it bleed

Those who say you can't mix the hard rock of the 80's with the alternative sound of the 90's obviously have never heard the Connecticut band Splice.

The self titled CD Splice is the second release for the band. The heavy Judas Priest  guitar riff that opens the first song door, caught my attention. A steady rocker that is an easy choice for a single. The guitars lend a distorted tone to Lead vocalist Ryan Healey additive singsong vocal style. His voice on this track is reminiscent of Tracy Guns Famous pipes. The song has a steady beat, a great melody, nice guitar tone, and of course great vocals. 

The second song that caught my attention was Way. After hearing the the first two hard rockin tunes on the CD, this pop meets the mellower side of alternative song caught me by surprise, but then again, the band got their name from their ability to splice different musical genres together. After listening to this track a couple of times, it easily became on of my favorites on the CD. The clean guitars, mixed with distortion were complemented by the keyboards. Ryan's vocals were strong here as well. But on this track as well the rest of the CD, Healeys vocals sounded closer to Shannon from Blind Melons opposed to Traci Guns. 

Overall the musicianship is great on this disk, the more I listen to this Cd the more people I can think to compare Ryan's vocal sound to, there is no shoe-in here, while reminiscent of several other vocalist Healeys vocals are wholly original. They really shine on songs like Door, wanted it all, and Way.  Brian and Drew's guitar chops were excellent proving they have a broad scope of musical knowledge, and not being afraid to mix different guitar styles into their riffs. Keyboardist Russell Foley lent tone to the CD not falling into the practice of overkill that can be found with  most Keyboardist.  Drummer Christapher Cortigiano kept the bottom of Splice's sound interesting with the aid of Bassist Tyler Nevins. 

To try and label this bands style would be a hard task, they combine the best of a lot of different genres, the alternative and hard rock influences are most prevalent, so Splice is a good  bet for fans of either genre. Their sound should appeal to those interested in the heavier side of Pop and AOR. 

Splice is a first Class Sophomore effort from the boys from New England, expect great things for these guys in the future.  

Visit the Rock n World Artist page for Splice