Review: Diamante- Coming In Hot

Every once in awhile in rock, there’s a debut record that comes along and leaves you with a hard time describing just how good it really is- Diamante’s Coming In Hot is one of those records.

It opens with the title track, a sexy, gritty, party rock track and the essential way to open up this record while “Sound of Us” is an almost-tribal rock anthem that has a jaw-dropping choir chorus toward the end.

“Had Enough” is an in-your-face lyrical barn burner which leads into “F.L.A.G.” (fight like a girl) is the theme song to give inspiration to any girl needing to overcome any obstacle and is pure empowerment before “Sorry,” which features a killer string background and, while not the strongest track on the record, slows things down at just the right time.

“Haunted” and “Sleepwalking” pick things back up in a badass pop rock style before “Bulletproof” blows the roof off and kicks your ass. This will be the song of the summer and is the standout track of the entire record; If it isn’t, someone fucked up.

“Kind of Love” keeps things going in the same way and is yet another rock anthem that is molded perfectly for the live shows before “Black Heart” shows Diamante’s more intimate side with one of the first true power ballads of the record.

Then there’s her cover of Heart’s “Crazy on You,” which is just perfect. She already has a similar vocal style to Ann Wilson and when she gets going and has that raspy, gritty scream, it couldn’t be more fitting.

“War Cry” has an electronic metal instrumental feel of going to battle and is exactly what you’d expect to hear from a song with this title and is yet another favorite while “Lo Siento” shows Diamante embracing her Mexican roots with a track that’s completely in Spanish and is just purely hypnotizing between her angelic voice and the transic guitars.

In the end, Diamante gave us a preview of what was coming a few months back with a few EP’s and that was a good indicator of what we could expect.

However, nothing would have been able to prepare us for the ass kicking we receive with Coming in Hot; it’s anthem after anthem after anthem and is a record that rocks from start to finish.

Rating: 9.5/10

-Reggie Edwards