While some of these songs have been doing the rounds for a number of years its is a Joy at last to have them all encased on this debut album from our friends in the North (Wales in this case). The Joy Formidable band comprise the delectable Ritzy Bryan - Vocals / guitar, Rhydian Dafydd - Vocals / bass and Matt Thomas - Drums and they are a great addition to the proud tradition of Welsh rock bands who generally make a very big noise and infuse their music with a passion which is sometimes lacking at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Your reviewer saw them supporting the Howling Bells some two years ago and it was clear then that they were a very special prospect indeed.

Anyone checking out the wonderful "Austere" will not just nod in agreement but be literally pulverised by a wall of sound that echoes Siouxsie and Banshees on "Spellbound" and borrows respectfully from the great Kim Deal in the Pixies. The great "Whirring" has been out for ever but it sounds as fresh today and the extended version of it on the Big Roar reminds me for the first time of a link with Toronto's finest "The Arcade Fire. Things become even more pronounced in this respect on the last track the "The greatest light is the greatest shade" where they not only play the Canadians at their own game they produce a song of such raw power that is simply overwhelming. This album is nevertheless evidence that the whole is the sum of the parts, such as the noise fest that starts off the seven minute plus opener `The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie' which develops into a chorus so big it should require planning permission. "Llaw=Wall" alternatively is sung by Rhydian David and is a much darker affair with an almost hymn like dirge to begin until it we pause for a short silence and it comes back like a song possessed; the slow burning "Buoy" also falls into this category. Perhaps the band ethic is best expressed however on the pop gem "Cradle" which proves that Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has a got a new contender in town who wants her crown and had better watch out.

Never has an album been so aptly named as the "Big Roar" since this is the sonic equivalent of a huge musical force building up to maximum power and unleashing a true wave of Welsh energy that could replace Wylfa. Certainly the band has had plenty of time to perfect these songs and if a slight whinge is allowed those who already have the bands mini LP "A balloon called moaning" are already in possession of many of the key songs here. Yet to be fair the band have re-recorded them and often improved upon them. Overall "The Big Roar" is a supremely confident debut from a band that is realising its promise, they are a force of nature in concert and they have finally achieved parity on record.