Who is Victor Ribas? Well he's the newest drummer for HURT. And hopefully the last, I seriously hope this band doesn't have the Spinal Tap disease!!
After multiple line-up changes they have produced their new album The Crux. In my opinion not their best, although it is better than their last one Goodbye To The Machine, which was a little to poppy for my taste. J. Loren and the crew are back with a much heavier cd. It sounds more like Vol.1, which I really liked. This one has some heavy, melodic and dynamic songs, and he finally broke out his signature violin again, which seemed to all but disappear on the last album.
Victor Manuel Ribas, the newest drummer for the band, grew up in Seattle, WA.
His first musical encounter was at the age of 5, beginning private
piano lessons with local instructors. He continued to study piano until
picking up his first set of drum sticks at the age of 13 and continued
performing both Jazz and Marching music all the way through college.
Ribas cites Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Danny Carey (Tool), Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta), Matt McDunough (Mudvayne), and Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) as some of his biggest musical inspirations. Although you wouldn't notice it on this record where he plays for the music and not himself.So how did he get the gig?
Living in Seattle, Victor played in numerous bands while working in various local studios in the Washington and Oregon area. In 2010, he heard that the band Hurt was auditioning drummers. Ribas contacted the band and was flown from Seattle, WA for an audition. Soon after he was announced as HURT's new drummer. Simple as that. Luck? I don't know. But he certainly helps the band sound like it used too.
Here are some of the tracks I enjoyed:
"Caught In The Rain" is 1 of my favorite tracks. This song is classic HURT! It starts out nice and soft, with the piano and violin playing oh so sweetly. Then the verse picks up a bit and then they come storming into the chorus where Victor kicks it up a notch with the guitars cranking it up to 11, and really lay it down.
"So When" shows the band's maturity in song writing. It has some nice layers to it and I love how the drums fit the song perfectly. Victor seems to know his place in the song, which is rare these days where everybody wants to show off their chops and over do it. It seems Victor is confident in his drumming abilities.
"Numbers" is a good one with a cool time signature. It's got a nice heavy groove all the way through.
"Links &Waves" is the direction the band has been heading in for some time now. It sounds like it was from the last c.d. Personally I don't care for this style too much, but that's just me.
"Sally Slips" is what I'm talking about. Soft and slow in the verse and heavy in the chorus. Really, this is what I believe HURT fans want to hear. These songs really get my heart pounding, and when they play them live you can see the intensity in J. Loren's face.
"When It's Cold" and "How We End Up Alone" are some of their best songs on this c.d.
This is the stuff that's gonna propel them to the next level. And if they keep on this track (and keep the band together) they will be in the top tier soon enough.
That being said, I enjoy Victor Ribas on the drums for this band, and most of the songs on this c.d.
I didn't like it much at first listen, however after giving a few more tries it grew on me and I now keep it close to c.d. player. Give it a try and see for yourself what HURT is all about!
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