Charred Walls of The DamnedI got Tim 'Ripper' Owens new bands debut album today heres my two cents on it------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are a heavy metal fan and have NOT heard of Tim Owens shame on you, the man can sing, on all his projects we see how he was chosen to replace Rob Halford when Halford left Judas Priest from 1991 till 2003, he then joined Iced Earth from 2003 to 2007, then became Yngwie Malmsteen's vocalist since 2007. He's got a good body of work behind along with a solo album released last year, which had its moments but was kinda dull, how can he make 2010 work for him? Enter Richard Christy who since retiring from music was a contributor on Howard Stern, wanting to make music again he gets bass maestro Steve DiGiorgio, and guitarist Jason Suecof of canadian band Capharnum a relative unknown, whats the end result a strong mix of Death/Thrash with high flying vocals and fist pounding metal. While on the note Steve DiGiorgio, Tim Owens AND Richard Christy were all members of Iced Earth at one point, if you want to compare some songs to IE you can but dont. The album starts big with the song "Ghost Town" which features a quick solo from Christy on drums and goes right into how the album sounds, fast and crunchy, with The Ripper's vocals soaring. Christy hasnt sounded this good since Death and Control Denied disbanded due to Chuck Schuldiner's death, while on that one also both Christy and DiGiorgio were members of Death AND Control Denied also. Track two is a mostly skipable affair, while track three features some good guitar and drum work. Blood on Wood is a rocker that reminded me a little of Motorhead and thats a good thing. In A World So Cruel appears to be a ballad, I say appear because its not soft by ballad standards, but is good none the less, Manifestations has a weird thing working with it, its volume sounds lower than the other songs so it might have been a mixing issue but besides a few good blast beats from Christy its a skipper. Voices In The Walls has some good guitar playing and good vocal melodies going for it, The Darkest Eyes is a speedy balls out metal song, it will get you pumped and I mean that. Fear in The Sky is the closing track and while I was hoping for a strong closer like the opener Ghost Town, didnt happen but had good parts on it. Overall the album is well written and executed immensely well minus a few bumps, but I blame the bumps due to Richard Christy's lack of work in music for the last 6 years. Its something that a sophomore effort can maybe fix, and definitely a sign of things to come. The biggest gripe I have is the almost inaudible bass of Steve DiGiorgio who is metals Les Claypool. I recommend a listen and a purchase, it grows on you with repeated listens. 3/4 |
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