Thunderbolt Hydraulic - the Atlanta-based hard rock band featuring Rob Hammersmith (Skid Row) on drums, Stephen Seals (former Ether Seeds) on guitar and vocals, and Bruce Butkovich (James Hall and the Steady Wicked) on bass - have released their debut EP, The Best Of Intentions, available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and most major digital music platforms. Listen to the song "Like A Ghost" below.

Thunderbolt Hydraulic's approach to making The Best Of Intentions was both methodical and spontaneous at times. Seals explains, “Primarily due to Rob’s busy schedule with Skid Row, we had a limited window in which to actually track this record. While it required a lot of songwriting and pre-production work up front, when it came time to record these songs, we were still flying by the seat of our pants. If it sounded cool and felt good in the moment, we went for it.”

Seals, who formerly played guitar for Roadrunner Records recording artist Ether Seeds alongside vocalist Dustin Lowery (the younger brother of Sevendust's Clint Lowery and Saint Asonia's Corey Lowery), assumed both guitar and vocal duties in Thunderbolt Hydraulic.

Hammersmith, who plays drums full time in Skid Row, elaborates: "Steve was sending me demos and I was absorbing them, but between dates with Skid Row, we had limited time to fine tune these songs. When we actually tracked them, we depended a lot on energy and instinct."

Skid Row has maintained a brisk touring schedule through 2018 and is presently working on a new record which will see the band reunited with famed rock/metal producer Michael Wagener, who worked on Skid Row's first two albums, 1989's Skid Row and 1991's Slave To The Grind, as well as 2006's Revolutions Per Minute.

With the basic tracks recorded in just a few days, overdubs were approached in a similar fashion. Bassist Bruce Butkovich, who also recorded and mixed The Best Of Intentions relates, “We were laying down guitar and bass parts and experimenting a lot. There weren’t any rules per say. We were ripping cables in and out of effects pedals and amps until we hit upon something that jumped out at us. I think that has a lot to do with the sound of this record. It's focused, but it's still raw and reckless in places."

In addition to playing bass in Thunderbolt Hydraulic and guitar in James Hall & The Steady Wicked, Butkovich continues to produce and mix a steady stream of other artists.

While the approach to making the Best Of Intentions was unconventional at times, the result is a six song EP that delivers a cohesive mix of hard rock and classic metal sounds. Recorded at East Atlanta Studios and mixed at Sometimes Satellite, the Best Of Intentions represents a notable addition to Atlanta's emerging hard rock and metal scene.

Tracklisting:

"Karma To Burn"
"Like A Ghost"
"Beneath The Black"
"Until The Embers Die"
"Scars"
"A Time For War"

"Like A Ghost":

"Karma To Burn":

(Photo - Sloan Photo)