Wellington’s This Silent Divide come up with a track written only last month, October 2023, and have shown us they mean business and can deliver quickly on their intentions. This single, Outside, is an utter beast that will tear wallpaper off walls and make the neighbours complain. It’s Rock n Roll rebel 2023 stuff, Wellington’s rising hard rock/punk rock scene incarnate.

The band starts the song with some devilishly disharmonious chord changes, setting an uncompromising tone that befits the in-your-face rhythm guitars and a fey lead that had resonances of Big Country in the tone, which is always a good thing. A bottom end that’s surprisingly subtle in the verses but which growls into your attention from the first chorus.

A listenable yet menacing melody with a singalong-at-a-gig chorus, this is definitely something that’s going to hit the spot at their shows, like their CubaDupa festival appearance recently in the capital. Shaun, Kieran, Jonatan and Sunil went back to Wellington’s Surgery Studios and again utilised the wizardry of Toby Lloyd for this track. As with previous recordings, it received its spit n polish in Berlin courtesy of Robin Schmidt.

The band delivers musically very well, all easily capable professionals obviously not intimidated by the studio environment or the stage. This track is full of hard out guitar work, and is unapologetic about the snarling, dystopic melody crafted from and by the imaginative chord progression I mentioned earlier.

These guys are a hard rock band that does it well. They have intentions to make a mark. This single will do them no harm whatsoever in pushing for their goals. I hope The Rock, Hauraki and all those rock friendly places around the world pick up on This Silent Divide – let them in with Outside.

Damned good song!