Revelry Soul brings throwback sound, new tunes to Savannah's Congress Street Social Club

Hamilton is backed by Gary Baker Jr.’s pounding drums, and Mitch Kelley’s catchy, melodic riffs on lead guitar. The band recently brought in Chris Lambert on bass, allowing original bassist, Max “Squid” Williams to move to second guitar and give their sound a major boost.

“It’s been awesome,” said Hamilton of the line-up change. “You can definitely hear the difference in how everything sounds and how bigger the sound is on our originals, and even some of the covers we play. I’ve always wanted two guitar players and it definitely makes everything better.”

Revelry Soul are currently working on a new album to follow up 2018’s Bad Sign EP. Based on their most recent singles, “1934” and “The Fall,” the band have greatly improved the quality of their songwriting and recordings.

“We recorded the EP in like two days,” explained Hamilton. “The new stuff, we’re really excited about because we’re working with a producer who is doing a great job. He’s been working with us and being patient because we’re still pretty new to the process. ‘1934’ sounds solid and I think it represents who we are as a band better than the EP did.”

“We’re working on our album now,” Hamilton continued. “We’re going back in August and recording five or six songs. We have about seventeen songs we’re working on right now, so we have a decently big thing coming out.”

Revelry Soul partly got their name from a Kings of Leon song. Kings of Leon are an obvious influence on the band’s early material, but since forming in 2015, Revelry Soul have been figuring out what they want their personal sound to be.

“I think now that we’ve sat down and analyzed where we want to go musically, I think our new stuff is going to be a little heavier than what we’ve written in the past,” said Hamilton.

Much of the new songs are in a 90’s rock vibe, but there are also slower, acoustic numbers, and other influences creeping in.

“It’s kind of all over the place, so we’re trying to figure out what songs will go well together on the album and then release an EP later on with the songs that didn’t make the album, not because they’re not good, but maybe they didn’t go with the other songs,” explained Hamilton. “We’re trying to balance it out and make the album really flow together.”

One aspect of Revelry Soul’s sound that remains unchanged is Hamilton’s powerful, electrifying vocal chops which the band often showcase with ripping live covers of Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, old blues, and even Bill Withers.

“I sang as a kid, but I didn’t really think anything of it,” Hamilton said of his voice. “I grew up listening to a lot of 80’s rock, Led Zeppelin. Then as I got older, I listened to a lot of the 90’s stuff like Sound Garden. My first band in high school, I actually screamed in a band that was doing metal and hardcore stuff.”

Revelry Soul expect to release a new single in the next few months to wet everyones’ appetites for the upcoming album. For those who missed the band at Ghost Coast Distillery in May, Revelry Soul are returning to Savannah for a gig at Congress Street Social Club on Saturday where they look forward to show off their bigger and better sound.

“I hope everybody comes out and has a good time, because we’re going to be playing some new songs and it should be exciting."

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Revelry Soul brings throwback sound, new tunes to Savannah's Congress Street Social Club