It’s no secret that Providence has had a vibrant rock music scene for a very long time. Just go out to any venue in the city, or in the surrounding areas, on a weekend night out, and you’re bound to see a group of musicians with loud riffs, pulsating drums and an emphatic sound. Every once in a while, a few established folks within this community get together to start a fresh new project. Gamma Rage is a prime example of this. Led by Cranston native Malyssa BellaRosa on vocals and featuring guitarist Chris Devona, bassist Dwayne Voelker and drummer Joe Rousseau, this quintet has an approach that echoes ‘70s heavy metal and fuses it with a modern alt-rock vibe. Their upcoming self-titled debut album that’s due out on Sept. 13 is a stellar example of this.
Along with most of the core members being involved in each track, they also had a few special guests involved. These include guitarist Andrew Labossiere from the Pawtucket alt-rock trio Eclectic Electric, fellow local guitar wizard Adrian Greenbaum, drummer Mike DelleFemine from the Providence rockers Kyodie, drummer Eric Lindahl, who is formerly of the local metal act Throne of Saturn, and the late drummer Nick Iddon with the album being one of the last recordings he was a part of before his untimely passing in 2022.
“I am so excited about this album,” BellaRosa says. “It has been a long time coming. We have one cover song on here, ‘Glory Box’ by Portishead that is one of my favorite songs of all time! Another one of our songs, ‘Wake Me’, was mixed at Invada Studios, a brand new recording studio situated in a historic building in the heart of Bristol, England. It was born from the ashes of Geoff Barrow’s SOA Studios, who was home to Portishead for over 20 years.”
“A bunch of the songs were recorded at Mad Oak Studios in Boston with most of them being mixed by Ben Grotto,” she adds. “I think this album sounds amazing and I’m super impressed with the quality of it. Our current drummer Joe Rousseau doesn’t appear on the album, but Nick Iddon is on more than half of these songs and his drumming is impeccable. That makes this album even more special.”
Along with the two tunes BellaRosa mentioned, there are numerous others within the album that are worth checking out. This includes “Gloom,” which has a serious stoner rock aesthetic with sheer emphasis that has Iddon’s drumming serving as the rock solid foundation. “Scorcher” lives up to its name with a consistent amount of energy coming through the instrumentation and arrangements from beginning to end. With an outlying structure, “SCP 3000” has a unique dynamic that’s created from both DelleFemine and BellaRosa. Their alternating vocals make for a nice departure from the rest of the record while adding a different tone.
In celebration of their full-length debut, Gamma Rage is having a release show at the News Cafe on 43 Broad St. in Pawtucket on Sept. 20. Adapter Adapter, Magic Thinking Ape and Ambergris are going to be rounding out the bill with the party starting a little after 8 p.m. If you’re looking to listen to the album ahead of the gig, log onto Gamma Rage’s Bandcamp page at gammarage.bandcamp.com on the day of the release. While you’re at it, follow the act either on Facebook at facebook.com/GammaRage or on Instagram at instagram.com/gammarageband. Make sure to dive into this record when it comes out because it’s an absolute ripper.
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