OTHERWISE "Gawdzillionaire"

 

(c) 2023 Mascot Records

1. Full Disclosure
2. Exit Wound
3. New Way To Hate
4. Failure
5. Coffins
6. Hollywood Minute
7. Gawdzillionaire
8. La Familia
9. Paradise 
10. Exorcism
11. Camouflage
12. No Rain

Adrian Patrick--Vocals

Ryan Patrick--Lead Guitar

Joe Connor--Drums

Additional Musicians

Ekoh--Rap on "Gawdzillionaire"

Heidi Shepherd (Butcher Babies)--vocals on "Paradise"

I make no bones about the fact that I am a fan of the underdog in the music world.  Some of my favorite bands, especially of the past twenty years or so, are bands that somehow fly under the radar most of the time, popping up occasionally to grab some much-deserved attention, only to slip beneath the surface again, ready to strike when given the opportunity.  When I was booking bands, I went out of my way to try to bring these bands in, as they were generally some of the hardest workers around, great to the people who pay to see them, and appreciative of the chance to show what they could do.  Otherwise was one of those bands, and I have followed them ever since their first brush with national recognition more than a decade ago with their SiriusXM Octane smash hit, "Soldiers".  Not a lot of people probably realize that Otherwise was the first band EVER to go number one on Octane without a record deal.  After that, they basically disappeared for a year or two, until showing back up on the scene with "Darker Side Of The Moon", which is one of my favorite tracks of the past couple of decades. Love that song!  Anyway, I've been onto this band since the beginning, and every time they release a new album, I go out of my way to snag it, wondering what little tweak the Patrick brothers will throw into the mix to keep the fans clamoring for more.

With their latest release, the humorously-titled Gawdzillionaire, the boys have unleashed a beast of an album, probably my favorite since Peace At All Costs, the album that "Darker Side Of The Moon" comes from, and definitely their best since 2017's Sleeping Lions, which I thought was pretty dang good!  On this new release, the band keeps their modern heavy rock sound, throws in the best parts of nu metal, a la old-school Papa Roach, and then brings in a couple of pals to help solidify the mix.  

Electronic elements open up "New Way To Hate", an aggressive industrial-edged rocker that Nine Inch Nails might drop on fans in 2023.

The title track is another example of the even angrier edge the band incorporates on this album, but with a twist.  Adrian's aggressive snarl is given a sharp-tongued twist as he deftly bounces across some rap-esque lines in the fist verse...only to be replaced by actual rapping from Ekoh on the breakdown between chorus sections.  Yep, I get it; some of you pigeonhole your music and there is no damn way you are going to listen to a heavy rock song with rap in it.  Fine, skip it, but don't dismiss it if you haven't heard it, because this track has a little bit of everything in the mix...including a brief Otherwise lounge act at the end...and if you choose to miss the show, there is nothing I can write that will change your mind.  For me, this is a band that is having fun doing things their own way and for one brief minute, they throw a change up to the listener before diving right back into the swirling pit of aggression that is the rest of most of this album.  I can deal with that...and I actually applaud the effort to shake things up a bit.

For that matter, "La Familia" is also a bit of a shake-up from the rest of the album, as it incorporates more melody than a lot of the album, and there is a blistering guitar solo that just absolutely smokes before the last chorus section.  

The album closes with a shocker of a track, as the boys give a completely different spin to the Blind Melon alt-rock classic "No Rain".  There's no girl in a dancing bee suit here...and if there was, it was swatted and squashed, as Otherwise crushes this track.  Heavy electronic effects intro the song, before Adrian's vocals just barely contain their anger as they intone the first part of the first verse over the heavy droning that opens things up.  That vocal restraint is removed once the band punches its way into the track mid-way through verse one, and the furious metallic romp charges through the first chorus section, only to back off briefly during a bit of a breakdown section that leads back into the closing pre-chorus and chorus run.  The closest the track gets to its original form is as it closes, with the band dropping away, leaving the vocals and a simple drum line fading things out.

Overall, this is a really strong return for the band and one that I have enjoyed spinning numerous times.  Likely the heaviest and angriest the band has ever sounded, Gawdzillionaire is still catchy and showcases various influences of the band.  No, everyone isn't going to love the rap vocals they drop in the title track, and some will complain of too many electronic effects in certain places, but those are exceptions and not the rule for this hard-hitting album.  If you liked them before, there is no reason to expect not liking...or even loving...this album.  If you were skeptical before, give this recording a chance before you flat out dismiss it.  

Rating:  Angry and cranky...err...crankable!  Give it an 8!

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