Death Dealer-War Master

Self-Release/Independent
2013

How's this for a line-up? You've got Sean Peck (Cage, Empires of Eden) on vocals, Ross the Boss (ex-Manowar, Dictators, Shakin' Street, Manitoba, etc.) and Stu Marshall (Empire Of Eden, Paindivision, Saint Lucifer, etc) on guitars, Mike Davis (Lizzy Borden, Halford, Angel Rot, etc) on bass and Rhino (Manowar, Angels Of Babylon, Jack Starr's Burning Starr and tons more!) on drums! If that's not the very definition of a "super-group" then I'm not sure what is! But, the key question arises then. Does it live up to such a lofty billing? Well, let's delve into the matter at hand and see. First things first though. It is worth mentioning that Ross The Boss (who really should need introduction if you call yourself any kind of heavy metal fan!) and Rhino both played in Manowar, but neither of them at the played at the same time. So, it's more then a little interesting that they both found there way into Death Dealer right? And since you do have two former members of Manowar that means that it is more then likely you'll pick up on some of that epic metal on "War Master". Well, at least I did. Honestly, right from the word "GO" I was envisioning this Manowar meets Judas Priest power metal group. That last part has everything to do with the lead vocals of Sean Peck. On "War Master" he pulls off a fairly decent impression of Rob Halford. While it's not on every track (as he does have more of an original lead of pipes on him when he tries) it was more then enough to give me visions of the legendary front-man of Judas Priest. Moving on our way we find a backing-band of musicians that is probably as good as you'll ever get. The familiar sound of Ross The Boss can be picked up fairly easily which is always a good thing! Meaning the other pieces fall easily into place with everyone playing their part with professionalism and enthusiasm being two key words. And indeed this is both a profession sounding recording and an enthusiastic bunch of musicians so that should be all it takes to make this one killer album. Well, yes and no. As I played this album I found myself being fully charmed by epic power metal with more then enough muscle and technical wizardly to keep my attention focused on the matter at hand. As each new track opened I was further pulled in to what was some fantastic metal. Or at least through the first three tracks. For whatever reason tracks number four ("Children of Flames") and ("Curse of the Heretic") put a halt to any enjoyment I was having with "War Master". With "Children Of Flames" the band goes for more of a U.S. power metal sound, but it just never reaches it's full potential. I give them credit for trying, but it left me wanting more. With "Curse of the Heretic" I really dug about 70% of the song. How? Well, the music on hand tries to be a steamrolling Judas Priest on speed and for most of the track that does work. Unfortunately I couldn't past what was some "talk-singing" taking place behind the music. It just ruined for me what could have been this insane number! Thank the metal gods then that the next track, "Hammer Down", really kicks some serious ass! It's more then enough spunk that you're pulled back into "War Master" and for the remainder of the album you soak up some killer power metal from a band that (hopefully) proves to be more then just a side-project. With 8 tracks out of 10 hitting all the right notes (or at the very least enough nice notes that this album would warrant repeated listens) this is the kind of debut-album you want for a group like this. So, hopefully they keep at it as there is always an audience for epic power metal like this!

Supergroup?

I was going to write on 1980's albums that I underrated today, but I decided to save that to do as a list after I finish my top guitarist countdown. With the release of Chickensh...I mean Chickenfoot this week I was forced to hear the "S" word. "S" as in supergroup. I have written on this topic before, but this new release had me thinking about it again. Now, I have not heard Chickenfoot and will not be buying it largely because there is no one involved with the project that I am very fond of. I have read some positive reviews on it though. Anyways the media and PR people seem to love to slap the above term on a project that involves a couple of guys who have been involved in names before. Much like reunion albums supergroups tend to be more miss than hit in my opinion. There tends to be a lot of hype around these projects as expectations tend to be that the quantity of name players will mean quality music. That doesn't seem to happen very often or at least not often enough. Why is this? A number of times you get guys who are past their prime who join forces thinking that several hasbeens can sell more albums than just one hasbeen. I think Chickenfoot falls in that category. Other times you just guys that play it too safe. Damn Yankees come to mind on this one. That doesn't mean that there have not been good supergroups. Captain Beyond, Asia (debut album only), David Lee Roth's original line-up, Desperado and Mindfunk (debut) all come to mind as supergroups that worked to some extent. Although none of those are very recent examples.

Feel free to share your views on supergroups.

I'll have a supergroup Lesser of two evils out at some point in the near future.

Man Raze-Surreal

VH-1 Classics
2008

A number of years ago the pairing of Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen (also doing vocals here) and Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook probably would have seemed unlikely or even unbelievable to fans of either band. However it seems that once band members get to a certain age or a certain amount of years past their prime that any pairing or partnership is possible. Okay, so I am not sure my expectations were high and I really expected the bulk of the album to lean more towards Collen’s background. Bassist Simon Laffy (formerly of glam band Girl) rounds the trio and I give them credit for keeping the overall production below the grain and not letting the overall sound be too smooth. Right away that helps a little and the opening track “This is” had me thinking that this project could be a real deal. However reality began to set a few tracks later and I just began hear too many tracks sounded like Def Leftovers. Okay, they didn’t have the exact same over processed sound, but it was still a lot of the same rhythms and the standard format that Collen and other band relied on between the late 80’s and the early 90’s. The rhythm section is a little more prominent here and they reasonably solid enough yet fairly standard at times. In theory I applaud any musician trying to do something different, but all too often they can’t or don’t want to get away from what they are comfortable with. I think that’s unfortunately what we get here on a number of tracks. There are a few highlights are probably going to have some fans thinking it’s for real, but I think the mediocre tracks are almost as plentiful as the real rockers on this release. Perhaps it’s a little more down to earth and a little less of the mindless party rock that Def Leppard churned out in spades at one point, but ultimately they play it a little too safe and the ending results are that it’s just an alright album.

Saints of the underground-Love the sin, hate the sinner

Warrior
2008

I’ll don’t like Warrant, I never have and I doubt that I ever will. Whew, I am glad to get that off my chest so I can start this review. Now I have liked Warrant and I always Jani Lane was a particularly bland vocalist. Yet I never knew if he himself was bland or if it was just the material. When I saw this “supergroup” of sorts coming out with a release I decided to give it a shot. Joining the Warrant frontman are Ratt members drummer Bobby Blotzer, bassist Robbie Crane and Keri Kelli (of Alice Cooper’s band and others). My thoughts before playing this were that Lane was either going to sink it with some lifeless vocals or he was going to rise to a level he had never previously achieved and carry this album with him. Actually it’s not 100% either of those choices, but most surprisingly this album leans towards that second category. Like a number of other 80’s hard rock singers (Joe LeSte, Jamie St. James) Jani Lane’s voice has gotten deeper with age. However unlike those other guys it seems to have helped Mr. Lane form some much needed grit in his vocal delivery instead of the syrupy approach he used far in the late 80's-early 90's. In addition to the tone of voice Jani also seems much more comfortable with the material than he did back he going on about cherry pies and wherever it was that the Down Boys were going to. The music is hard rock with some power pop and plain rock undertones and on several tracks they remind me of Cheap Trick. I think the fact that the two guys in the rhythm section have played together for about a decade is obvious in the sound and it’s a major plus. I also was greatly relieved that they avoided the overdone, sickeningly repetitive choruses that so much defined Warrant. Now the tracks aren’t anything new by any stretch of anyone’s imagination, but they are decent and everyone involved sounds comfortable. My initial guess on this project was that it would be a real dud like Contraband (anyone remember them?). However perhaps it’s experience or perhaps it’s the fact that they are doing songs they like instead of doing strictly to try and land a hit single, no matter what the motivation this is a decent album. There are two cover songs with as they deliver a solid version of Tom Petty's American Girl which is a fine fit for Jani's voice. They also cover the Stones' Moonlight Mile, but they seem a little more hesitant to put their own brand on it and it's just alright as a result. Some of the best tracks were "Exit", "Dead Man's Shoes" and the very Thin Lizzy-esque Jimmy. This album doesn't change the history of those involved, but unlike a number of other 80's hard rockers everyone involved here can claim to have been part of a pretty good album.

http://www.myspace.com/saintsoftheunderground