In summary:

Break The Silence is a superb first effort from Gun in over a decade, and while it’s jarring to the ear at first, Dante Gizzi’s different vocal style may actually turn out to be a stroke of genius for the Scottish rock giants moving forward.

Break The Silence receives 8/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

13 years is a very long time.

You could raise raise a family in that time, or play in three FIFA World Cups, or, if you’re Axl Rose you could make one Chinese Democracy (almost).

But that’s how long Scottish rockers Gun have been away.

It seemed like it was all over for the boys from Glasgow when they disbanded in 1997 following the commercial failure of their 0141 album, but in 2009 they decided to get the band back together and have another go.

However, the initial excitement of the reunion was dashed when original singer Mark Rankin declined his invitation to re-join the band, and had to be replaced on vocals by Toby Jepson. Expectations were lowered even further when the now Jepson-fronted Gun released a fucking awful 5-track EP in late 2009 which worryingly still featured the pop-tinged sound that had ruined their 1997 LP, and then Jepson left the band, as did drummer Gordon McNeil, so they found themselves back at square one.

Honestly, all of this serves to make Break The Silence an even bigger success.

The Gizzi brothers Jools (lead guitar) and Dante (bass guitar) were always the driving forces behind Gun. Dante decided to end their singer woes by taking over lead vocals himself, temporarily drafting in the band’s former technician Derek Brown to replace himself on bass, then bringing in Paul McManus on drums, and these moves saw the band injected with a confidence and purpose not heard since their early 90s heyday.

Opener Butcher Man gallops out of the gates, the band erasing any fears that they hadn’t learned from their past mistakes by turning the guitars up loud and thumping their way through three minutes of all-out rock.

This is followed up by 14 Stations, a track which rivals the likes of Don’t Say It’s Over as Gun’s finest work to date. The pummelling drums are matched by high energy hooks from Jools Gizzi’s lead guitar, and a chorus which you’ll struggle to get out of your head for weeks (trust me, I know).

Interestingly, Dante Gizzi’s voice couldn’t be further away from what Gun fans are used to, and at times it’s difficult to see them as the same band, because his raspy high cadence is more reminiscent of the aforementioned Axl Rose or perhaps Gerard Way instead of original singer Mark Rankin’s low register tone, but it works amazingly well!

As you get further into the album you’ll see that Gun have rediscovered their knack for writing the catchy, grounded hard rock numbers which they are best known for, with No Substitute, Lost & Found, How Many Roads, and Bad Things all managing to hit the mark. The album ends with the solid 1-2-3 combo of Innocent Thieves (with its fantastic singalong backing vocals), Running Out Of Time, and Last Train cementing the fact that, while this may be slightly more polished and not quite as heavy as their early 90s output, it’s certainly still as catchy.

Aside from the fact that it takes a little getting used to Dante Gizzi’s voice on Gun material, the biggest critique of this album is the lack of guitar solos throughout. Some of these songs could have been taken to the next level had Jools Gizzi dropped one of his trademark face-melters, but he refrains from doing so and instead plays the part of an (albeit very loud) rhythm guitarist.

I’m nit-picking here, of course, because this is a fine album.

If you have missed Gun’s brand of hard-working rock complete with faux-American accents over the last decade, then you’ll absolutely love Break The Silence. It’ll be very interesting to see where this new incarnation of the band take their sound on future releases.

In summary:

Break The Silence is a superb first effort from Gun in over a decade, and while it’s jarring to the ear at first, Dante Gizzi’s different vocal style may actually turn out to be a stroke of genius for the Scottish rock giants moving forward.

Break The Silence receives 8/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★