Lizzy Borden-Appointment with death

Metal Blade
2007

There have been a number of veteran acts that have released surprisingly good albums this year. That list would include Hanoi Rocks, the Scorpions, Saxon, and Lillian Axe and now I can add Lizzy Borden to that list as well. It’s been seven years since “Deal With The Devil” was released although the band did a slight image change and released an album as Starwood a few years ago. I was hoping for a good album and what they delivered was their heaviest album and quite possibly the second best album of their career. “Appointment With Death” opens with “Abnormal” which has a breakneck pace and enough guitar parts for three good songs. The album pretty much stays the course after that delivering mainly spectacular tracks except for track nine “Something’s Crawling” which is far too repetitive. It’s obvious that a great of planning and work went into this album because it’s a strongly crafted piece of work. This band, like WASP, has always walked the line between hard rock and heavy metal. At their best they deliver the riffs and pounding beats of metal, but blend in the melodies and catchiness of hard rock. I am a long time fan of this band, but wasn’t sure what to expect as it’s been years since they did a great album, they have had line-up changes, delays and a change in image. Yet obviously the long wait was indeed worth it. It many ways this album sounds like it could have been the natural follow-up to 1986’s “Menace to Society” because it’s in a similar style yet heavier and slightly more aggressive. I am glad this band hasn’t fallen prey to recent music trends or simply tried to relive their part, but instead they built upon their best albums and have managed to deliver one of the better albums of 2007.