On the brand new single and video, “D’ja Cheat”, you can liken Sarantos’ voice to the male equivalent of a siren inviting unsuspecting mariners to dash themselves on the rocks. The almost angelic versatility of his vocal range and musical expression is a skill you’ll rarely find in most rock or metal artists, who prefer to go with thundering bombast in their deliveries.
The music is edgy, haunting, melodic and passionate on this track. If you’re into ear-pounding guitar riffs, tribal drums and screaming, you’d probably want to steer clear of this track. But if you like powerful guitar driven rock with sizzling guitar solos and plenty of melody, you’d appreciate this song.
By now we know that Sarantos’ songs are all different, there is a lot of talent and creativity put into not only the music, but the lyrics as well. The mood changes throughout his music, as much as its messages do. He always has great melodies, and Sarantos’ voice is extremely smooth with the style changes.
He manages to adapt easily to whatever genre he is working in and “D’ja Cheat” is probably one of the hardest rock songs he has ever done. Sarantos is also very easy on the eyes and full of emotion when he sings.
You’ll easily fall for the emotion in the video of the song, as he is better than most indie musicians when it comes to performing in, and producing video clips. Relentlessly releasing one video clip each month has certainly made him an expert by now.
“This video is about gambling, jealousy and cheating,” says Sarantos. “The drone footage and vintage cars were so beautiful but the real highlight of the video are the music and lyrics themselves. The story takes center stage. Although this song veers off the pop rock genre, I love trying extremes and even different genres well beyond my comfort level. I can tell my fans that I’m of Christian faith, not in any cults, not a devil worshipper and yet, I love the music as it fits this song. I love rock! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with hard rock music! It’s so misunderstood. Some of the nicest people I’ve met are in this genre. You really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”
Yet in Sarantos’ case, I would say, please judge the book by its cover! Clean-cut, perfectly groomed and dressed, his music mirrors his artistic persona. The musical arrangement, performance and recording, are of a superior level with no glitches or bad batches. It has been awhile since I have noticed his move to the next level in the production sphere.
Sarantos has always been a great songwriter and performer, but like most other exceptional indie artists, the production was also just half a notch below the major label artists, for obvious reasons. In recent months Sarantos has managed to close that gap in a very noticeable way.
I’m not sure what has changed in his recording and production methods, but it is clear that he has taken another step towards the big arena. And “D’ja Cheat” is a concrete example of that!
OFFICIAL LINKS: Sarantos Website – Facebook – Twitter – Google+ – YouTube – iTunes – Vimeo – Reverbnation – Soundcloud
