REVIEW; Rizen 'FreeWay'

​Rizen are back!! I said at the end of my last review that I didn’t think that would be the last I hear from Rizen, and I’m certainly glad I was right. The band is back with another track from their 2023 album “Ex Cinere” and it’s called “Freeway”.
 
If you missed the last review of Rizen, then allow me to briefly introduce them to you. Rizen are a 80’s rock influenced band made up of the quintet of Adrian, Brian, Chris, Mikey & Josh. We previously reviewed their song “Chicken Little” which I really liked. It made me feel like a kid again listening to Guns N Roses in the back of a car with my dad. But enough about last time, let’s talk about the song that we’re reviewing today which is called “Freeway”.
 
What I really love about this song is its energy. I love songs that give me a memory or some kind of vision, and in this case, it’s driving along the hot American desert with no one else but you, some friends, an old convertible  and this song that makes you want to put your foot down and enjoy the moment. Now I’ve never done that myself, but it’s really not hard to put yourself in that situation. Those are the kind of songs that I really enjoy.

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The song itself starts off with a distorted electric guitar playing a riff that to me, reminds me of Matt Willis’ song “crash”. After a few run throughs, we hear the bass introduced along with a kick drum slowly come in, before building up to the main beat. What I like about the buildup is i could easily imagine Rizen gracing the stage to a group of screaming fans, as the lead singer asks the crowd “are you ready?!”. The chorus is also really nice and catchy, even if you don’t know the lyrics, after a few listens you find yourself singing along with the song. “Until the sun goes down, we roam from town to town, out on the freeway”. I really like it, the melody is perfect, it’s catchy, and as I’ve said before, it gives you that image that we see so often in movies. The open road, a car full of friends, and a great song to accompany it, and that song has to be “Freeway”.
 
I think you can tell how much I enjoyed this song. It was a completely different vibe compared to the previous song we reviewed from Rizen; “Chicken Little”. And I cannot commend Rizen more for keeping things fresh and interesting like they did with “Freeway”.
 
Another banger, Rizen. Looking forward to what you have lined up next!
 
5/5

Written by Jack Saunders