Professor Emeritus-Take Me To The Gallows

No Remorse Records
2017

Professor Emeritus is a relatively new metal band that hails from Chicago, Illinois and is fronted by MP Papai (Moros Nyx). The well-crafted "Take Me To The Gallows" is the group's debut album and it is due to drop of November 13th, 2017. In addition to lead vocalist MP Papai (a talented if high-pitched singer that equally reminds me of Ronnie James Dio and Metal Church's David Wayne!), "Take Me To The Gallows" features the skilled performances of Lee Smith (guitars, bass), Tyler Herring (guitar), and Rüsty Glöckle (drums). These three musicians have played with the likes of Satan's Host, Tiger Fight, and Moros Nyx. Given the wide array of influences on this seven-track album it sure as hell seems as if the group is being haunted by the ghosts of some of these past bands. Naturally I mean that in a good way. Opening up strong with the epic and gritty doom metal that is "Burning Grave", "Take Me To The Gallows" (which was actually laid to tape between September 2014 and December 2016, but for whatever reason it is only now being released) finds Professor Emeritus experimenting with all of these different genres of metal. Not only do we have traditional heavy metal, doom metal, and epic metal on this band's debut, but shades of dark metal, classic heavy metal, cult metal, and N.W.O.B.H.M.! For the most part this is a fairly successful formula. The only real downside comes from the fact that there seems to be a lot of recycled riffs going on. You could chalk that up to the disc's doom metal elements (especially seeing as doom metal can be occasionally monotonous if not done correctly) or maybe it is just the curse of debut albums. Whatever the case might be with this Chicago metal outfit, "Take Me To The Grave" has a few flaws when it comes to the structure of some of the songs. Does that make this album a dub? As I already hinted at this is a great sound and style for Professor Emeritus so the answer to that question is a clear "No". The recycled riffs might knock this recording down a notch, but it is still a damn slick debut and one that I would certainly recommend. Anyone that loves heavy metal /doom metal albums should give this one a spin. The same goes for fans of hard & heavy epic metal. With one good album down and a waiting and willing scene that will more than likely embrace this lot, "Take Me To The Gallows" makes me want to keep an eye out for this Chicago band in order to see just how far they will go.