iSound

A newly formed four-piece rock act is about to up the ante in this so-called new rock revolution, and surprisingly they don't wear vintage threads, sport mod haircuts, or hail from Detroit, NYC or some cold country with fjords. They're from the South. Chapel Hill, North Carolina to be exact, and their name is MARAT.

What this uncompromising group does do is create guitar heavy rock 'n' roll packed with hi-amp riffs, incisive lyrics and a provocative flair that is as alluring as it is brash and unforgiving. Getting it done is a frontman without equal and a band with raw, unmistakable talent and a perverse command of dynamics. MARAT delivers rock 'n' roll that's stripped down, then shot from the soul, and like the world we live in, simultaneously chaotic and balanced, sophisticated but primal, dark though enlightening, and psychedelic yet very, very real.

And while MARAT is mindful of rock's fundamentals, their music – as evidence on the exceptional debut albu...