Thunder Tribe-War Chant

Nightmare / Sony / R.E.D.
2013

Am I the only one who just loves that album art? How could I even try to resist "War Chant" with a cover like that! It more or less has a 80's heavy metal air to it so when I saw it I had to know if the music tucked away inside would compliment that choice cover. For the most part it actually does. When it comes to the five piece act Thunder Tribe, who are said to hail from Metalville USA! (otherwise known as Kentucky), here we find a band that isn't content to just knock out the same old same old heavy metal. This group has a lot to offer on "War Chant" which may or may not be their debut album. It's hard to tell when it comes to this 11 track release as they don't spell it out as such (being their debut album), but then again they don't list any other albums online. While I can't be sure of what album this is I can at least be confident in the knowledge that Thunder Tribe has a different take on rock/heavy metal that really works. Their Facebook page mentions how Thunder Tribe has covered everyone from Boston to Pantera live (crazy cool!) and their influences seem to run from Black Sabbath to The Beatles. Classic rock by way of melodic heavy metal and progressive/power metal is the best way to describe this bunch that features the near operatic vocals of Michael Duncan. Of course vocals like that give way to a sound not at all unlike bands like Savatage, Queensrÿche and Crimson Glory, but when you have guitarists like Ronnie Duncan and Rick Sargent on hand anything can happen! Listen closely and you'll pick up on so many other bands/influences in Thunder Tribe's sound like Alice In Chains Kiss, Triumph, Sweet, Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Genesis, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Tesla, Dokken, Extreme, Journey, B.O.C., Jimi Hendrix, Dio, Black Sabbath and even Kansas! Sure it sounds crazy and that's because it is! A band like this shouldn't work out. It should be a royal mess right? And yet it isn't. The group, which also features Tom Dawson (bass) and Chad Osborne (drums), has essentially perfected a new take on modern rock and modern metal. They've done this by burying their heads deep into the history books of rock and metal and applying everything they learned on these 11 tracks! Guitar rock solos hang around while melodic metal dances in the moonlight! You get near Metallica like riffs doing the tango with 70's prog rock! The heavy appeal of early grunge meets up with 60's pop and they share a cold pitcher of beer! It's all of that and more and you know what? It's moments like this that make me appreciate this gig of mine all the more. For someone like me, who loves all things rock (incl. pop rock) and heavy metal (incl. pop metal), this is just epic awesomeness. An album like this really picks me up and pulls me through those moments when everything and everyone (music-wise) just starts to blur together. While it might not be a brilliant piece of work, "War Chant" is still one album that I'd like to add to my personal CD collection as it's just such a fun and classy release!

 
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www.reverbnation.com/thundertribe
 

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