Every once and a while an album crosses your path that makes for a really easy review. There is nothing complicated about it. It is whatever it is, as straight forward as can be. This album is one of those such releases. This thing is metal to the core. Does the band name sound metal? Check. How about that album title? Check. Does the album contain wicked shredding and head banging riffs? Check. This album is everything you would expect from an 80′s metal band, and I mean that as praise and rather high praise at that.
In today’s music scene it’s rare to see a band just be what they are regardless of where that takes them. This isn’t an album that’s going to be getting a lot of radio play or top the charts. What it does have the potential to do is make a lot of metal heads out there very, very happy. The album opens up with Bitten by the Rattlesnake which has one of the best riffs out of all of the tracks and I think it’s an excellent choice for the opener. Once the double bass drums kick in to accompany that riff you’ll know whether or not this one is for you. This album is heavy metal and nothing else.
From a musical perspective I am at times reminded of Corrosion of Conformity or even Motorhead to a certain extent. Jeremy Bremner is the lead vocalist and a strong one at that. His vocal performance here reminds me of Dave Wyndorf from Monster Magnet. I know I just threw out some big names in the world of metal, just remember I said they “sound like” not “are as good as”. The second track, Time Marches On, has a little bit of a Metallica touch to it. A slightly slowed down riff that sound like something I would expect to hear from Metallica’s Ride the Lightning days.
The album just keeps chugging along after that. Song after song of throwback metal. If you miss guitar solos, they are here in full force and very well done. The drumming stays in the background somewhat, but when he kicks in with the double bass drums it really adds a ton to some of those riffs and breakdowns. Lyrically the album appears to be a throwback as well. We get some stuff about death and destruction, which every metal album needs. Then there are tracks like Fold In which sound like a possible lost love. It’s nice to see diversity on that side of things, it’s hard to be taken seriously if all you get into is how cool you think hell is.
The album finishes off with 3 strong tracks, all of which I could consider my favorite. High Noon has my favorite guitar riff out of the album. Fold In shows the vocalists range better than any track before it. The chorus is so strongly sung that it’s hard not to get a little chill from it. Then the album finishes off with The Storm which is a 2 minute, 50 second ripper to finish the album off.
After reading that you are probably looking for a 5 star rating out of me, but that isn’t the case. For what it is, it’s pretty great. I honestly believe this will please any number of metal fans. I also have to give credit for excellent production work. For an album being released by first time recording artists the quality is excellent. But there is a double edged sword that comes with this release. Metal fans will love it, because it is so metal. People who would like a little variety might get bored. I think one thing I might like to see is maybe some softer interludes or maybe they can even go for the all important power ballad next time around. If they can incorporate some of that stuff I really think it would make for a more diverse listen and get more people interested. Look no further than the recent Baroness release Blue Album. That album is as metal as it gets and has a similar vocal style to what you will find here, but it has several interludes throughout the album to give the listener something to calm down with for a second before it gets back to all that ass kicking.
If you like old school metal there is no reason not to listen to this. I think even if you only mildly interested in a throwback to the 80′s you will still find a couple of tracks to get you heart pumping. Overall these Chicago boys impressed me here and they might be looking at a brighter future if the continue to release music of this quality.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kyle I'm a self taught musician of nearly 20 years and I'm proud to say that music encompasses my life. I'm just a simple guy that loves music and who is constantly searching for new music to feed his musical vices!
