BS BONE "Inside Insanity"

(c) 2019 Independent Release

1.  99 Lions In A Cage
2. Dysfunctional Souls
3. I Don't Give a F**K
4. Rant

Vyper--Lead Vocals, Bass

Steve Grind--Lead Guitars, Backing Vocals

Leo--Drums, Backing Vocals

Doing this review blog affords me the opportunity to hear the music of a lot of bands from a lot of places around the world.  Sometimes music shows up in my mailbox, sometimes in my inbox, from bands that I have never heard of before.  Such was the case with BS Bone, a self-described "alternative/stoner rock band" from Italy.  No clue how they heard of Glitter2Gutter, but they sent me this 4 track demo EP and asked me if I would be interested in reviewing it.  So, sure...why not.

For starters, I wouldn't use the same description for the band that they chose for themselves.  To my ear, BS Bone is far more a garage punk band than anything, and they are definitely NOT what most would refer to as a stoner band.  Now, I wouldn't doubt the guys were stoned when they put this together, but the label "stoner rock" just doesn't apply here, at least in my opinion.  I would agree that there is an alternative sound to the band, as lead vocalist, Vyper, sounds like a really angry version of Billy Corgan, the lead vocalist for Smashing Pumpkins.  Imagine if Corgan was just very, very angry and decided to shout the words to all of the band's songs in that nasally tone he is so well known for.  Got that in your head?  Extremely angry, shouting Corgan?  Yeah, that's what Vyper sounds like ALL THE TIME.  Not once on the demo does the guy do anything even remotely close to singing.  And sadly, that might be a good thing.

The EP kicks off with "99 Lions In A Cage", which, to be fair, is a pretty cool title.  It has that 90's alternative rock kind of vibe to it.  The song title, that is; not the song.  No, the song is...well, it's bad.  I fear I must have upset Vyper in some way, because the guy spends the entire song...and really the whole EP...yelling at me for no apparent reason!  And I have just about no clue what the guy is saying!  The opening rhythm guitar riff is kind of cool, somewhat reminiscent of Motley Crue's "Live Wire" intro, and Vyper has a cool little bass run at the outset, and the drums are pretty tight, as well, but things just fall apart once the vocals start up.  Billy Cor...err...Vyper starts yelling at me and I slide about two feet back from my computer in self-defense.  After the first verse, the band slips into a 70s-styled rock interlude for a moment, complete with an odd tempo change, and then the chorus starts up out of nowhere!  Then, after the chorus, the song basically starts all over again with that same opening rhythm riff and drum pattern...and then I'm being yelled at again!  Someone, please, tell me what I've done to this guy!  Mercifully, the song ends about 10 seconds short of the FIVE MINUTE MARK, because I may have thrown my computer away if I had to endure much more of that song.

"Dysfunctional Souls" is up next and, well...at least it's only three minutes long!  There's a positive!  Again, the opening rhythm guitar riff is pretty good, even if the quality of the recording isn't top notch, and the drums and bass are again pretty good, honestly.  In fact, I think Leo has some decent talent on the skins.  But then Vyper jumps on the microphone again, and the wheels fall off again.  This time around, Vyper uses a bit lower range on the first part of the verses, but the other guys jump in and all three of them start yelling at me during the chorus, and I kind of feel like crying!  There's a pretty good bass solo after the first chorus section...or maybe it's the second one...I don't know, I'm just trying to survive here.  

"I Don't Give A F**k" could be the theme song for the band and this recording, as it kind of sounds like that was what the band was feeling at the time of the recording.  This is pure punk attitude here, complete with a chorus that is so repetitive it basically seems like the band was just looking to see how many times they could drop the F*bomb into a single song.  After the chorus runs for roughly 8 F's, the song decomposes into just an absolutely bizarre, I guess you'd have to call it a break down, that runs for about thirty seconds, most of it spent with Leo smashing his cymbals while the rhythm guitars chug chug here and there.  Then a guitar solo...which is a pretty big stretch of that term...hits before the chorus F's its way out of the song.  The best thing about this song is the 1:30 that is basically the band seeing what kind of absurd noises their instruments will make in that breakdown section, with Leo seeing if he can kill everything in the room with his cymbals. (Unfortunately, he couldn't...)

The last track on the EP, "Rant", uses a guitar effect that reminds me a lot of Rage Against The Machine, which automatically turns me off, as I simply can't stand RATM.  I mean at all.  Loathe that band and will immediately change the radio station anytime they come on.  So, the chances of me liking this song was pretty slim right from the get go.  Mix in the fact that the song is just terrible and, well, hearing it twice was as much of a burden as I cared to endure.  The guitars sound like they were recorded on a boom box, the vocals are way out front and just annoyingly grating, and I can't understand more than 30% of what Vyper is screaming at me.  The drums are decent, I have to admit, and Vyper seems to have some talent on the bass, but that's about all I can manage to say about this track that is even remotely positive.

Seriously, I hate putting out reviews that are so overwhelmingly negative, because I know full well that these guys have fans that love them, and I don't doubt that they poured their heart and soul into these four tracks.  And I also don't doubt that with some help from a real producer, using a real studio, with some kind of recording budget, BS Bone might sound fairly decent.  But that's a lot of if's.  As it stands, I couldn't in good conscience ever suggest anyone seek out this demo, let alone pay good money for it.  And why risk Corona Virus being mailed to you from Italy just to hear four songs that could have just as easily been played by the teenagers at the end of your block on used, out-of-tune equipment?  

Rating:  Turn this off.  I'll give BS Bone a 3 for the effort, which is really just me giving each guy an individual 1.  But that seems unfair, so I'll give Leo's drums a 6, Vyper's bass a 5, Grind's guitars a 4, then subtract 5 for Vyper's vocals, 6 for being constantly yelled at, and 1 more for the muffled tones of the guitars.  Which, if you do the math, gets you back to my original 3.  Now...where's that delete button... 

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ROSS THE BOSS "Born Of Fire"

(c) AFM Records

1. Glory To The Slain
2. I Am The Sword
3. Fight The Fight
4. Shotgun Evolution
5. Denied By The Cross
6. Maiden Of Shadows
7. Born Of Fire
8. Demon Holiday
9. Godkiller
10. Waking The Moon
11. Undying
12. The Blackest Heart

Marc Lopes--Vocals

Ross "The Boss" Friedman--Guitars

Mike LePond--Bass

Steve Bolognese--Drums, Percussion

I'm just going to cut to the chase.  If you are not a fan of blisteringly fast, exceedingly loud power-thrash metal with thundering drums, blazing guitars, and more snarls and screams than a pack of rabid werewolves, just go ahead and skip Born Of Fire, the fourth studio album from long-time Manowar axeman, Ross "The Boss" Friedman and friends.  Taking a cue from the best material he ever worked on with Manowar, and marrying it to the speed and thrashiness of a band like Overkill, Ross The Boss...the man...has cut loose with probably his best work to date with Ross The Boss...the band.  

I will admit to having to spin this album a few times before being able to really take it all in, because there is a lot to sonically digest here.  Most of the tracks here are so hyper-aggressive, it throws you back a bit because this is not what metal bands are doing today.  With basically only one exception, there are no big, epic moments, and nowhere will you hear huge string sections or operatic female co-lead vocals.  This is pretty much just the soundtrack of aggression...and I like it!

Things start off in exceptionally fine form with "Glory To The Slain", a scorchingly fast, thrashy track that finds the band firing as one right from the get go.  No long instrumental intros here, as Lopes comes snarling in after just a few cymbal crashes, and the rest of the band blazes after him in a high speed chase of screaming guitars and rapid-fire drums!  Lopes, formerly of thrashers Meliah Rage, sounds like the lovechild of Manowar's Eric Adams and Overkills Blitz, with the power and screams of the former and the snarling anger of the latter.  For fans who may be looking for a pure Manowar spin-off, Lopes' vocals may take some getting used to, as he isn't quite the true singer/screamer that Adams is, but to be fair, very few are.  Regardless, the record is immediately shoved into your earhole with "Glory To The Slain", as well as the follow-up thrasher, "I Am The Sword", which takes the speed of Manowar's "Demon Whip" and welds it to the Under The Influence-era Overkill in terms of aggression.  Friedman's solo skills show themselves to have not deteriorated even one iota here, as he tears through a set of strings in nearly unimaginable fashion.  Not designed to be pretty, not created with melodic intent, these two tracks combine to form a pure speedmetal meltdown that is unequaled by anything that has crossed my desk in the past several months.

"Fight The Fight" slows things down a bit, which simply means you can breathe again, but the musical punishment continues.  I am curious how many drum heads Bolognese went through in recording this album, because he beat the living snot out of his kit on every single track of this album, with "Fight..." being no exception.  "Shotgun Evolution", again just a slight bit slower, is also just a tad more melodic than most of the songs here.  The chorus features gang-shouted backing vocals on the "shotgun" part of the title, and LePond's bass is given a pretty solid voice here.  Some dischordant guitar sweeps come out of a vocal bridge section before kicking off the final run through the chorus, then the most epic power metal chords of the album take things home.  Not my favorite track of the record, but an interesting one, to be sure.

"Denied By The Cross" has definite Manowar moments, namely in the structure of the chorus and in Lopes' extremely Adams'-like screams during said chorus, but there are also pure thrash moments from the rhythm guitars and the drums that make this track a metallic beast.  I am not a fan of the anti-Christian lyrics, particularly when Lopes puts a dark spin on the opening lines of the Lord's Prayer, but musically, this is powerful stuff.

To me, "Maiden Of Shadows" could definitely be a Manowar track, as it has that big, epic feel that is so often found in that band's songs, but it is blended with something of an Irish folk feel.  To be honest, after the way the song started, I fully expected it to be Eric Adams that came screaming from the speakers.  It would shock me if this song doesn't find its way into RtB setlists, nestled between a couple of requisite Manowar tracks.  This is possibly my favorite track on the record, although there are several that vie for that claim.  In the end, the superb song structure, the chanting chorus in the background, and the huge wails from Lopes give me a Manowar feeling I haven't had for several years.  

The title track dives back into the speedier material, aiming for metal and not for pomp, and Friedman's gritty riffs power the song forward.  The same can be said for follow-up, "Demon Holiday", which again has aggressive, chunky riffage from start to finish with a speedy fret-burner of a solo from Friedman and more jackhammer drumming from Bolognese.  "Godkiller" gives a lot of freedom for LePond's rumbling bass to be felt right from the start, and once again I would have to say that Friedman is his own influence here as shades of the mighty Manowar are draped all over this song.  As such, along with "Maiden...", this is another song that begs for my attention every time I put the record on to play.

"Waking The Moon" is an odd piece for the band, but it is a killer moment that has to be heard and appreciated.  Howling wolves start off the track which is straight ahead metal.  Lopes uses various vocal approaches here, ranging from snarls and screams to a nearly spoken-word approach at one point.  There's a swing to the tempo of the song, and there are a couple of truly funky bass solo drop-ins (yes, I said bass), that are so alarming the first couple of times through that most listeners will think something is wrong with their disc.  Trust me, nothing is wrong, and Friedman heads off on his own sweeping guitar solo in very short order before Lopes launches into a final chorus run.  I can't say I have heard anything this distinct in quite some time, and the tempo and time changes are borderline bizarre, to be honest, but I can't help but like this track for some reason.

As the album closes, two big songs remain.  "Undying" is a pretty traditional power metal tune with a galloping rhythm driven by both Friedman's guitars and Bolognese's drums, and Lopes gives his vocals a real stretch.  "The Blackest Heart", which is the longest song on the record, is the slowest song on this album, with a doomy, plodding tempo, a lot of bottom end riffing, and some big, string-bending solo work from Friedman, who really sounds to be enjoying the change in pace.  Tempo-wise, think of "The Thing That Should Not Be" by Metallica, with that kind of riffing, and even some similar drum patterns, but there is a haunting feeling here, partly supplied by the hiss and pop of vinyl static, that gives this track a sinister chill.  Not a song I return to time and time again, but one that grabs my attention each time it rolls around.

The production here is borderline perfect, with a lot of room for each instrument to add its voice.  I'm not sure who produced and mixed this album, but they deserve a lot of credit for the full sound here, which I am sure is difficult to achieve when so many instruments come flying at you at such a rapid pace.  Exceptional musicianship abounds here, and Lopes sounds very confident in what he is doing.  I'm curious how he handles the Manowar tracks that I am sure pop up in the setlist, because there are definitely some Adams qualities to his voice.  Don't think that means Lopes is a copycat vocalist by any stretch, for that would simply not be the case.  In the end, most people are going to come by Ross The Boss due to their affinity for his playing and writing with the Kings Of Metal, and for the most part, I think those folks will be sated.  But RtB deserves to be heard because of who they are as a band, not because of who Ross The Boss was with his former mates.  And, to a large degree, he and his current band do a good job of carving out their own identity while not turning their back on where the band's origins lie.

Rating:  Definitely crankable!  Crank Born Of Fire to 7.5 and prepare to be face-melted, especially on the blistering first half of the record!

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SHAKRA "Mad World"

(c) 2020 AFM Records

1. Fireline
2. Too Much Is Not Enough
3. A Roll Of The Dice
4. Mad World
5. When He Comes Around
6. Thousand Kings
7. I Still Rock
8. Fake News
9. When It All Falls Down
10. Turn The Light On
11. Son Of Fire
12. New Tomorrow

Mark Fox--Vocals

Thom Blunier--Guitars

Thomas Muster--Guitars

Dominik Pfister--Bass

Roger Tanner--Drums

As hard as it is for me to believe, 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of Shakra as a band.  And, yes, I realize other bands have been around longer.  And that's my point, actually.  I was relatively late coming to Shakra and had zero clue the band had been around that long!  I mean, a quarter of a century has passed for a band I really like and I have only heard three albums?  What the...???

Shakra returns with their first new album since 2017's Snakes & Ladders, which was a really solid, enjoyable album that made the Top 20 albums of that year for G2G.  That says a lot considering the literally hundreds of albums that cross my desk/hit my inbox every year.  For these Swiss rockers, Mad World marks their 12th studio album and is another fine example of what the band has seemingly been doing since Pearl Jam and Nirvana were picking off melodic rock bands like ducks on a pond; they keep putting out solid record after solid record of uncompromising, straight ahead hard rock.  Immediate comparisons to German heavyweights such as Bonfire or Danish rockers Pretty Maids are going to be made, and they are fair comparisons, indeed.  All play a similar style of harder-edged guitar rock with mid-to-lower register vocals, catchy hooks, and solid rhythm sections.  I think comparisons to 80s/90s U.D.O. are fair, as well.  Not bad company to keep, eh? 

The album gets right to the point with the opener, "Fireline", with it's twin guitar lead-in and straight forward drums.  Fox comes snarling in on this hard rocker, and almost instantly I feel right at home with the song, as it has a very welcoming, very familiar feel to it.  You know it's Shakra, I guess you could say.  Big backing vocals complement the chorus section, and a really cool trade-off guitar solo between Muster and Blunier accentuates the track all the more.  This is exactly the kind of edgy hard rock that I have come to expect from Shakra, and I was really happy to hear the band picking up right where Snakes... left off.  

Up next is "Too Much Is Not Enough" and a dirtier, darker vibe is added to the rhythm guitars, which is instantly noticeable.  For all the world I would swear I have heard this song before, although I know I haven't.  There is just something about this chorus that is so, so familiar.  An ode to excess, "Too Much Is Not Enough" is pretty much standard fare for Shakra, again featuring layered backing vocals in the chorus section and a ripping guitar solo.  The drums from Tanner feel a bit more out front and aggressive in the mix, which adds a bit more to that darker sound I mentioned earlier, and Fox stays down in his register, especially in the chorus, again adding an element of darker rock.  I really have to say I like the guitar tones here, especially on the rhythm playing.  Check the video below.

"A Roll Of The Dice" keeps that lower-tuned guitar sound, that darker edge that I mentioned on the last track, and I have to say it really adds something to several of the tracks here.  The band sounds more...dangerous, I guess you could say.  This song could be a Scorpions track, the vibe and the writing style are of that sort, and it wouldn't have surprised me if someone had told me this was a left-over Savage Amusement track.  Just listening to the vocal phrasing on the solo totally gives me that impression.  The guitar solo is not of the Scorps' style, and no one would ever confuse Fox for Klaus Meine, but the overall feel is there.  Once again, Tanner's drums are given a pretty solid voice on this song, and he incorporates a bit of a tribal pattern in places.  A really cool song.

"Mad World" has a bit of a modern feel to the tone of the guitars, but once again this is a straight-forward hard rocker.  Probably a small step back from the first three songs in terms of lyrical quality and memorability, but it's not bad.  Fox again sticks to the lower end of his range for the most part and sounds strong, and the playing, overall, is solid, there just isn't that big, memorable hook here.  The best thing here would have to be the guitar solo, which is one of the better ones on the album, actually, but even that can't save this track from mediocre land.

Things are quickly righted on "When He Comes Around", a dirty, bluesy rocker that I really like.  Straight out of the 80s/90s with the guitar tone and the writing style, this track is definitely one of the best on the album, and this song regularly gets the repeat treatment.  I love the verse sections, where the drums do most of the heavy lifting to support Fox, with the guitars drifting to the background a bit, but you always know they are there, working through a bluesy, swaggering build before hitting hard on the chorus sections.  Once again, a really nice guitar solo complements the track, and Fox's vocal approach is perfect for this type of song.  Really, just the whole package on this track, and this is exactly where I like to find a band like Shakra working.  "When He Comes Around" definitely plays to the band's strengths in a big way.

"Thousand Kings" hits hard, with aggressive rhythm riffing, a thundering drum presence, and a big, building guitar solo that really shows off the skills of Blunier and Muster.  Fox is aggressive sounding, as well, and the track is an angry-sounding rocker that slots in nicely between "When He Comes Around" and one of the other real treats here, "I Still Rock".  Perhaps a retort to people who question what a band like Shakra is doing sticking things out for a quarter century, "I Still Rock" has a catchy, dirty vibe...almost a bump and grind rhythm, really...that bounces along as Fox sneers, "I still rock" to all who would listen.  Nope, not overly deep lyrically, and the chorus is pretty much just the title over and over, but the feel of the song is just so dang cool.  I especially like the line the rhythm guitars keep repeating, which requires some particularly nimble finger work. 

"Fake News" finds the band back in that angrier, edgier style they have used a couple of times already, incorporating a bit of a modern take to the guitar tones.  Ripped from the headlines (fake headlines?), the title pretty much serves as the chorus here, which is one complaint I guess I might make about the album.  In general, although not everywhere, the chorus sections are overly simple, with a lot of repetitive phrasing.  I'm not expecting epic poetry here, but when your chorus is "Is it fake news (fake news)/Or is it great news (fake news)/Is it fake news (fake news)/Just gimme the news!", I feel maybe a bit more time could have been spent with the lyrical pen.  Anyway...

"When It All Falls Down" is another of the best tracks here, with some really cool guitar licks starting things off, and once again that 80s/90s hard rock vibe really comes through strong, a la Bonfire.  The chorus is stronger here, with a definite sing-along quality, but for my money, this song is all about the guitars, which are given a lot of attention throughout.  Its always impressive to me to hear bands whose guitar players pay this much attention to a style and sound that isn't overly popular or excessively practiced today.  Blunier and Muster are definitely students of this style and they have mastered their craft.  Good, good stuff here!

"Turn The Light On" has a classic guitar rock hook, and the song's structure is fairly reminiscent of later 70s/early 80s song structures, at least for the first bit of the song.  It becomes more commercial sounding as it progresses, and we again run face-first into a fairly repetitive chorus, but the guitars swoop in and save things with the solo section.  No such heroics are needed on "Son Of Fire", which is another great, hard driving rocker with some slightly modernized guitar tones and an aggressive rhythm section with a lot of punch.  This is another track I find myself repeating fairly regularly.

The album closes with the only ballad on the record, and it's a pretty good one.  "New Tomorrow" is pretty stark for the first verse, with no drums present at all, just Fox's voice and the guitars.  The second verse brings the rest of the band in, and we have another song that I think the Scorpions could have written, with a similar approach to "Send Me An Angel".  This isn't really that big lighter in the air power ballad, as there isn't that huge, soaring guitar solo in the middle that brings everyone to their knees (the guitar run is the closer here), but it's a nice, softer moment that shows Shakra isn't completely a one-trick pony.   

Maybe not quite as catchy in the songwriting department as Snakes & Ladders, but on the whole, Mad World is definitely not far off.  This is a really, really strong record with a number of catchy rockers.  If only a bit more time was given to the chorus sections on a few tracks, this may be the pinnacle of the band's catalog.  The production is spot-on and the mix is really good, especially in allowing the twin guitars to do their work and in giving the drums a really strong presence.  Due out on February 28, Mad World is an album well worth seeking out and picking up!

Rating:  Another solid entry from a band that really never disappoints.  Crank this to an 8!

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BLACK SWAN "Shake The World"

(c)2020 Frontiers Records

1. Shake The World
2. Big Disaster
3. Johnny Came Marching
4. Immortal Sails
5. Make It There
6. She's On To Us
7. The Rock That Rolled Away
8. Long Road To Nowhere
9. Sacred Place
10. Unless We Change
11. Divided United

Robin McCauley--Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals

Reb Beach--Guitars, Backing Vocals

Jeff Pilson--Bass, Keys, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals

Matt Star--Drums, Percussion

Frontiers Records has developed the reputation of being the creator of potential "supergroups" by putting together various combinations of artists on projects, sometimes pairing people up that have never performed together, that have different styles and sounds, or are from various eras of hard and heavy music.  To be 100% honest, more often than not, the musical ability is there, but the songs?  Not so much.  So, with this latest grouping, Black Swan, would things turn out any differently?  Loads of potential but very little in the way of results?

So, of course, the obvious thing to look at here is the sheer volume of talent involved.  Let me start by stating that I think Robin McCauley may be one of the most underrated 80s melodic hard rock vocalists out there.  I seriously love the guy's work.  The 67 year-old Irish singer has one of those truly unique sounds that you can just instantly pick out, at least for me.  And for my money, those three albums he did with MSG (that's The MCCAULEY-Schenker Group, thank you very much!) are some of the best melodic hard rock of the era that a surprisingly huge number of people have never heard, which is criminal.  If you don't have Perfect Timing, in particular, you are missing some incredible music, but Save Yourself and M.S.G. are must-seeks, also.  (And if you can find it, get the band's Japan-only EP, Nightmare, The Acoustic M.S.G.)  So, at least as far as I am concerned, the band is off to a fabulous start simply by including McCauley.  

On guitars, the uber-talented Reb Beach is found.  For those who weren't around in the 80s/early 90s, or were too drunk/stoned during the time to remember, Beach is the guitar hero behind all of Winger's albums, as well as one of the best George Lynch stand-ins for Dokken (Erase The Slate, Live From The Sun), and since 2002 he has been at David Coverdale's side in Whitesnake, and has actually been in the band longer than anyone...EVER...not named Coverdale, so the dude must be doing something right!  I've always been a fan of Beach's sound, and I was fortunate enough to get to see him with Dokken on the Erase The Slate tour, where he tore up the stage.  And whether you like the current sound and style of Whitesnake, you can't fault Beach, because the guy delivers the goods on Flesh & Blood, the latest effort from the band.  And, speaking of Dokken and delivering the goods, Pilson was the bass player on every Dokken record from 1984 through 2000, plus 2018's Return To The East: Live, he played on three records with Dio, has been on albums by Lynch Mob, Lynch/Pilson, and Steel Dragon...oh, and he's been the bassist for Foreigner since 2004 and played on the current version's only studio record, 2009's Can't Slow Down.  And as to Starr?  Well, he's currently playing with Mr. Big on tour, has played with Burning Rain, Beautiful Creatures, and Ace Frehley.  So yeah, the guy has skills.

So, everything is in place for a typical Frontiers Records supergroup project.  TONS of talent, but not a lot of cohesion in the songwriting, with not a lot of time spent in the writing sessions, but plenty of talent in the recording studio.  It's happened on several occasions with these projects, and not just on Frontiers Records, but throughout the industry.  What looks great on paper doesn't always (usually?) come out of the speakers.

Except Black Swan is different.  Black Swan HAS THE SONGS!!!  Oh, does it have the songs...

Things kick off immediately with the album's title track, "Shake The World".  Big, pounding drums start the song off on a rather ponderous foot, with the first few guitar lines combining with those drums to almost...almost...bring to mind Black Sabbath's "Iron Man".  But, after a brief introduction, of sorts, the song kicks off for real, and things shape up rapidly into a high-octane melodic rocker with nary a trace of the sludge that was hinted at with those first few bars of the song.  With even the first listen, it is obvious that Pilson's bass will be given a solid voice in the songs on this record, as he can be heard to rumble down under right from the start.  Beach's playing is tight and his solo on even this first song is so completely different from anything he does with Whitesnake or Winger that it's easy to forget this is that same guy!  But for me, the best thing was to hear McCauley's voice come blaring so powerfully out of my speakers, sounding for all the world like he just got done recording Perfect Timing more than 35 years ago!  The man's vocals are impeccable here and throughout the record.  Truly amazing how some voices can hang in there for so long, while others fall apart after just a couple of albums.  Well, I am so very happy to declare that McCauley's vocals fall into that first category. 

"Big Disaster" has a cool swing feel to the drums and the galloping bass, and the phrasing of McCauley just bounces along perfectly to the rhythm set by Fox and Pilson.  Beach goes off in a couple of different spots, but the big solo leading into the final runs through the chorus is the big show-stopper here, and a lesser song would have been buried by such an immense solo.  But, again, the fun, bouncy rhythm and the perfectly paced vocals, including the excellent backing work from Beach and Pilson, keep the song driving along perfectly.  Love it.

"Johnny Came Marching" is a hard-hitting, ballsy song, with a bit more bite to the guitars and even a hint of angry edge to McCauley's vocals as he sings on this song about PTSD and its effects on soldiers coming back from war.  It's a story song, to be sure, but there is a point to the song, and it is not lost on the listener, no matter how great the performances surrounding that message.  Beach goes a slight bit more modern in his solo here, although there is still plenty of melodic flair, but the more aggressive tone is hard to miss.  Fox's drums are a big part of the song, as well, hitting hard and really driving not only the tempo but the attitude of the song.  I will state, however, that I don't necessarily agree with the full scope of the message delivered here, as the news anchor-styled voice over at the end of the song talks about "another mass shooting" right after talking about the "Johnny" of the story that was apparently in the "war (that) broke out overnight in the Middle East".  It then talks about PTSD being the "leading cause of suicide among returning soldiers".  The implication here seems to be that if you are in the military and you are sent to war, when you return home you will become suicidal/homicidal, and I have a really hard time agreeing with that stance.  I am certain the guys were trying to make a point here, but I fear the point misses the mark and paints a rather negative picture, especially when compared to Seventh Day Slumber's "Man Down", a song that has a similar tone about soldiers and PTSD, but which doesn't draw such finger-pointing lines.  Just my two cents on an otherwise killer song.

"Immortal Souls" is, for my money, the BEAST of this record!  This is just an absolutely spot-on melodic rock song, the likes of which I can't say I have heard in a couple of years.  Seriously.  This song gets repeated numerous times every time I pull it up on my computer, and I actually burned it onto my CD twice...in its normal slot and then again at the end...just so I can hear it more frequently.  From McCauley's big, powerful vocals to Beach's sweeping solo work, to the massive hook and insanely catchy chorus, this is just an immensely great song.  As great as the album is, as a whole, this track pretty much blows everything else away.  It is just spot on perfection. 

The album's first ballad attempt, "Make It There", goes a bit awry, to be honest.  It's a little too plodding for me, and it comes across even more so when Beach's solo...as excellent as it is...comes across as too fast for the music surrounding it.  McCauley's voice is the perfect fit for a track like this, but something is just off for me, and it really seems to be a pace/timing thing.  I don't skip this, and again, Beach's solo really deserves to be heard, but I'd be lying if I said this was what I would use to represent what Black Swan is all about.  There is definitely better stuff on this record.

"She's On To Us" is a cheater's song, or more accurately, the song of someone who is on the verge of being caught up in his indiscretions.  Another vehicle for the sizzling fretwork from Mr. Beach, "She's On To Us" also fits perfectly the vocal intonation used by McCauley, allowing him to flex his range a bit.  The same can be said for "The Rock The Rolled Away", a blistering rocker that finds Pilson's bass punctuating every hard-rocking sentence that Beach screams through his guitar.  Just amazing energy in these two rockers that really showcases the difference between a group of guys trying to flash their own individual talents and an actual group that seeks to enhance the strengths of each other on ever single song.  To me, that is so much a part of what makes Black Swan so much more successful than a lot of other projects.  This doesn't feel like a project; it feels like a group that has been together for years, perhaps even decades.  Even the guys have said as much, stating they feel like they have been doing this forever.  And that makes all the difference in the songs, I feel.

 If it's guitar acrobatics you want, look no further than the solo on "Unless We Change", which also features a cool, chunky bass vibe from Pilson and some near-tribal rhythms from Fox.  If it's big, soaring vocals you are after, the bluesy, soulful "Sacred Place" is right up your alley, as McCauley delivers in a big way, again sounding every bit like he just stepped off the sound stage of the "Anytime" video from M.S.G.'s Perfect Timing album...from 1986!  Adding and subtracting edge as necessary, the guy is just an absolutely professional singer in ever sense of the word on this record.

(Speaking of "Anytime"...here...enjoy this flashback for a couple of minutes...)

Sorry...no real reason for that, I guess, other than the fact that it is a KILLER song....and, well, this is MY site, so... 

Anyway....

The album's closer, "Divided United", starts off as a big, moody, commercial-sounding piece of balladry that reminds me a lot of what bands like the Scorpions were going after with "Winds Of Change" and the like back in the day.  Featuring guitars and electric piano for the first 1:30 (not a peep from the drums up to this point), this is another track where McCauley's big, emotive vocals work really well, but the song feels sappy at times in the first 3 or so minutes, and I kind of struggle to find myself claiming to like it.  And then everything changes at the 3:15 mark (give or take), when the tempo COMPLETELY changes from the (sappy) ballad "Divided" part into the full-on classic rocker of the "United" section, complete with big drums and percussion, screaming guitar riffs, a string-bending solo, epic stacked backing vocals, and some of the best wailing from McCauley on the record.  What the heck?!  If the first half made me feel the closing track was going to be a bit of a letdown, the second half made me perk right back up and start hoping for a hidden track or something, because now I'm not ready for this thing to end!       

I was fully prepared to kind of "meh" this record when it popped into my inbox, as so many Frontiers projects just always leave me wanting.  But after the first play through, I was a fan in a BIG way!  And now, after a couple of weeks of getting to blast Shake The World repeatedly, I find myself hoping...borderline praying...that Black Swan will return with an equally killer follow-up record, as this thing is just....wow!  I mean truly, truly wow!  I was in no way prepared to like the record this much, and that's despite knowing in advance that Robin McCauley was fronting the project.  Kudos to the band, kudos to the songwriters, kudos to the label, and kudos to whomever had the vision to put these four guys together as Black Swan, because they collectively floored me.  Shake The World may be the record other records find themselves chasing at year's end to be the best of 2020.  I am truly that impressed!  If it wasn't for a questionable first half to "Divided United", and a slightly off ballad in "Make It There", we may be staring down the barrel of a 10 record here!  Even the frequently suspect production on a lot of Frontiers projects is pushed aside, as this record is crisp, clean, and mixed expertly.  I can't even mark it down for that!     

Rating:  Super-stoked to finally say a Frontiers Records combo project is crankable!  Crank Shake The World to 9.5!

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CONFESS "Burn 'Em All"

(c) 2020 Street Symphonies Records

1. So What?
2. Malleus
3. Welcome Insanity
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Heresy
6. Burn 'Em All
7. Is It Love
8. My Vicious Way
9. 509
10. Prominence
11. One For The Road

John Elliot--Lead Vocals

Blomman--Guitars

Pontus--Guitars

Ludwig--Bass

Sam Samuels--Drums

It's been three years...three LONG years...since Swedish sleaze masters, Confess, released an album (Haunters came out in 2017).  That's a long time between albums.  And then, when you consider that it was 2014 when the band put out their debut record, the quasi-classic, Jail, you are looking at a band that had fewer than 25 songs under their belt in roughly 6 years!  That's not really the track record of a big time band, and a lot of times, bands that wait such a long time between the first and third albums never actually get to the third album; the scene has changed, people have moved on, magazines are on to the next big thing, what have you.  I honestly had fallen into that category of people who had moved on.  Sure, like I said, Jail is a borderline classic modern-era sleaze record; not quite in the same category as Crashdiet's Rest In Sleaze, but it's really good.  And Haunters was solid, also, but with such a long layoff between those records, I honestly had kind of forgotten about Confess other than the time or two that I pulled Jail out and thought, "Dang...wonder what happened to these guys!"

Well, what happened is they went back to the drawing board and put together what is probably the best record of their career.  With a change in one guitarist (Pontus is in, Richie is out) and a new bassist (Ludwig in, Van Noice out), the band seems to have returned to a more aggressive sound, throwing more back to the sleazier Jail and steering a bit more away from the more polished hair metal sound of Haunters.  As such, Burn Em All feels like a mixture of the best of both worlds, a perfect combination of a couple of radio ready tracks and a fistful of punch-you-in-the-mouth rockers that hearken back to the days of the seedier side of the Sunset Strip!  Buckle up, sleaze fans, because Burn 'Em All is gonna be a heck of a ride!

The album kicks off in fine fashion with some interesting jungle effects and a big tribal beat from Samuels' drums, accompanied perfectly by Ludwig's bass.  About thirty seconds in, the speed ramps up in a big way and we are plowing headfirst into a punked-up beast of a track, with equal parts sleaze and blood dripping from the steaming strings of the guitars that are absolutely smoked on this track.  The snarl of Elliot's vocals is absolutely perfect for this type of song and he completely commands this track in a way not a lot of singers do these days.

"Malleus" (whatever the heck that means) is up next and virtually nothing has changed from the opener.  The guitars are on full attack, and the bass rumbles very audibly throughout the scorching rocker that features a killer solo, some great backing vocals, and extremely tight, focused drum work from Samuels, who is a masterful player throughout the record.  In places, Elliot sounds like an angrier, throatier Phil Lewis, especially when he is in full-seer-and-spit mode, such as on the first two tracks.

"Welcome Insanity" backs off on the punk-infused sleaze and cleans up pretty nicely on a more radio-friendly rocker that has Elliot sounding considerably smoother and less pissed off than on the hyper-aggressive, full-attack tracks featured on Burn 'Em All.  The guitar solo is almost too aggressive for the rest of the track...almost...but it all works, especially with the great mix on the song.  I have to give serious credit to the production team here, as they managed to put together a great sound for the band throughout the record, whether it's on the superb backing vocals here (not too loud, not buried in the mix), on the great voice given to the bass, or on the excellent sound of the drums.  Hats off in a big way!

"A Beautiful Mind" has one goal in mind and that is simply to cave in the side of your head with blow after blow after blow of this heavy puncher.  Not blistering fast, but crushingly heavy, especially on the bottom end, and fueled by the angst of Elliot's vocals, who snarls directly in you earhole with nasty aggression and attitude, with each verse being kicked off by, "Hey, motherf**ker...!", accentuated by perfectly paired bass and drum work.  It's funny, because after the guitar solo, a vocal bridge chimes in that at first sounds too polished for the rest of the song, but then the buzzsaw guitars come snarling back to life just in time to bleed directly into the next track, the amped-up, "Heresy", which has the band delivering what sounds to me like the band's take on what Motley Crue might sound like in 2020, but with far superior vocals.

The title track blazes through the speakers next, and the full-speed-ahead attitude is firmly in place once again.  Samuels' drums are a freight train headed directly at the listener, and the twin guitar attack of Blomman and Pontus just absolutely attack this vicious rocker.  Elliot's vocal, again, are absolutely perfect for this scorching track, and his voice absolutely reminds me of someone now, but dang if my brain can pluck the name out at this point.  Perhaps it will come to me in time...  While I sort through the thousands of bands I have heard in my time, check out the official video for "Burn 'Em All" for a dose of just how great this new record is...

"Is It Love" is pure ear candy and would have dominated hard rock/metal radio and Headbanger's Ball back in the day.  Elliot's vocals have a melodic quality on a track like this that make you wonder how he's the same guy that is trying to verbally rip your throat out on other tracks!  The addition of some well-placed keys enhances the melodic nature of this song, and the smooth guitar solo is a string bender of the style that is all-too-often forgotten with hard rock bands these days.

"My Vicious Way" doesn't really live up to the "vicious" part of its title, but it's a pretty good song.  If I had to pick one song that I might...MIGHT...leave off, this would be it, and there really isn't a specific reason for it.  If pressed, I would probably say I don't really like the vocal bridge all that much, and the song reminds me of what wasn't really right with Haunters; it didn't really seem to know what it wanted to be.  Not a full-on sleazy rocker, but not a real melodic, hair metal song either, "My Vicious Way" kind of treads musical water for me, but never entices me to hit the skip button.

"509" is a balls-to-the-wall speed fest that just screams from your speakers right from the start, taking a cue from the first couple of cuts from the record.  Again, the twin guitar attack is perfectly executed here, and once again, the rhythm section is just so tight that it is hard to believe that Ludwig and Samuels haven't been playing together since the outset of the band.

"Prominence" sounds straight out of the 80s with its song structure, with the rumbling bass line being the prominent (see what I did there!) instrument supporting the verses, with the guitars jumping into the fray in the build to, and run through, the chorus sections with a really cool solo featured here as well.  I love the vocal approach of the chorus here, again, sounding like its straight from the best stuff that 80s metal had to offer, and the tasty guitar lines that drive the song home are a pure nostalgia trip for me, though the song isn't a specific rip-off of any one band or particular player.  It's just a well-executed song that I hit repeat on fairly frequently.

"One For The Road" closes things out in fine, mid-tempo rock fashion, again combining the best elements of the hard-edged sleaze style and the more melodic hair metal style the band fuses together on this album.  Again, not the best track of the bunch, but more than good enough to replace well-over half of the dreck that crosses my desk in a given year.  Again, not even close to a skipper.  

The language is pretty aggressive in a couple of spots, but this is sleaze metal, and not squeaky clean boy band pop. There are a fair number of F*bombs scattered throughout the record...and pounded into your skull on "A Beautiful Mind", but language aside, this is a MONSTER of a record.  Outside of a couple of tracks I might almost consider skipping, there is pretty much nothing to not love here.  I mean, I loved Jail, and I thought Haunters had it's moments, but Burn 'Em All has to be my favorite of the band's trilogy so far.  I guess only time will tell how well the record stands up, but for the here and now, this is a killer record from a band more people really need to discover...even if they are late coming to the game!  Let's just hope that Street Symphonies can get the band to punch out another record in 18 or so months and not make us wait 3 years between albums again!

Rating:  Gotta crank this one to 9, folks!  This record is a beast!

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FIGHT THE FADE "In Love.In Hope.In Peace"

(c) 2020 Independent Release

1. Don't Say
2. Everything Is Fine?
3. What's Left
4. Over And Over
5. Consumed
6. Heart
7. Feelings
8. Underwater
9. Wild Ones
10. Devil
11. Everything
12. Standing Here
13. The Answer

Zene Smith--Vocals

Tyler Simpson--Guitars

Bryan Conway--Guitars

Trevor Taylor--Bass

Alyssa Worth--Drums

Go ahead.  Try to find another band as nearly impossible to pin down style-wise as Fight The Fade is.  Sure, on the songs they are best known for, such as "Edge Of Desire", "Lanterns (In The Dark)", and "Masks", the band comes across largely as a industrial hard rock/metal band.  And that's a fair assessment if all you have heard are the singles, especially the most recent ones.  And man, those are some GREAT songs.  But if you have never dug deeper into a Fight The Fade record, you have missed a lot of other pieces of who the band is.  I mean, this band is SO electronic at times, there are more bloops, bleeps, whirs, and buzzes than in a Star Wars droid scene!  Sometimes those moments are almost entirely devoid of guitars, while other times the electronic elements are merely the bedrock upon which the rest of the song is built.  And nowhere in their catalog are these elements more prominent than on their newest effort, In Love. In Hope. In Peace.

The album starts off with "Don't Say", and right away fans of Fight The Fade will notice something different is going on here.  Combining heavy electronics usage, a repetitive bass line, and equally repetitive lyrics, "Don't Say" in unlike anything I can recall hearing from the band previously.  I can't say I dislike the track, because I really like the way lead singer and band founder, Zene Smith, approaches the vocals on this piece, but it is definitely not something that I was planning to hear when I popped In Love.In Hope.In Peace. in for the first time.

The same can be said for "Everything Is Fine?".  If "Don't Say" was a bit of an oddball, "Everything Is Fine?" is straight up quirky.  Techno, industrial, electronica...even hints of dubstep...all collide in this song, and pretty much everything here is electronic, from the drums to the synthesizers to the effects used on Smith's vocals.  And when Smith's more metallic scream kicks in towards the end of the track, the heavy guitars aren't there to accompany him, just layers of synthesizers and electronic sounds as his scream echoes away, trailing off into the more spoken-word approach he uses for most of this track.  Not gonna lie, I was starting to get a bit concerned at this point, as this was not the Fight The Fade I was expecting.  Where were the hard hitters like "Lantern" or "Masks"?!  What gives?

Turns out what I was seeking would punch me in the earhole immediately, as the mid-tempo-but-hard-hitting rocker "What's Left", blasts forth on song three.  A track that combines an industrial element to its guitar-driven hard rock, "What's Left" is likely the sound and style that fans of Fight The Fade picked up this album to hear.  For non-fans, if you are familiar with the band Stabbing Westward from the late 90s and early 2000s, that would be a fair sonic comparison, although Zene has far superior vocals, in my opinion.  Already seeing significant airplay on Christian rock stations, I really don't know why "What's Left" isn't getting broader radio play, as it would fit comfortably on nearly any modern rock station, metal station, or on Octane.

"Over And Over" slows things down a tad and inserts a few more electronic elements, but the guitars still carry a heavy, industrial grind throughout the track, and the chorus punishes when it hits full force.  Utilizing some pretty harsh vocals in spots alongside the unmistakable vocal style of Smith.  There are some atmospheric elements here, as well, especially on the bridge section before the final run through the chorus, which really add to the musical depth of the track.  This song was a real sleeper for me, as I feel I used to spin right through this song without realizing just how great it was.  Trust me, I stop to take notice now.

"Cosumed" returns to the heavy electronic influences, and I get a distinct Nine Inch Nails vibe here.  The electronic drums are very rapid fire on this track, and harsh screams rip through the chorus section that is a big part of the NiN comparison for me.  I can envision a moshpit opening up at the front of the stage as this song pulsates with techno rhythms and industrial power, but I can't say that this is a track that I find myself really grabbing onto, as NiN has never been a favorite of mine.  I will say that this is some of the heaviest vocal work I have ever heard from Smith, as he lets loose with some rage-filled screams that stand completely apart from the smoother vocal style he applies to the next track, "Heart", which finds itself in that weird territory between ballad and mid-tempo rocker.  Piano and softer percussion during the verses yield to heavier, more aggressive sounds in the chorus sections on this obvious love song.

"Feelings" has a unique percussion line to it and some blurby keyboards that run throughout this song about self-sacrifice (yes, I said "blurby".  I don't know how else to explain them.)  Definitely one of the weaker musical moments for me, I honestly skip this track the majority of the time.

Skip is NOT something I do with "Underwater", which follows a similar style to the other rockers here, combining atmospheric electronic elements with hard driving guitar lines and Smith's powerhouse vocal style.  The mid-tempo rocker has multiple layers to the vocals, with the main line of the chorus exclaiming, "I keep going underwater", while set slightly in the background, a second vocal line implores, "Don't let me drown".  There is a smoothness to this track that just makes it flow...well...like musical water when I listen to it, but the guitars retain their bite and the percussion is huge throughout.  I find myself hitting repeat on this track quite often.

"Wild Ones" is another up-tempo rocker with a big chorus that just begs the listener to scream along when the band shouts "we are, we are the reckless youth!"  The tempo comes to a screeching halt after the second chorus run, with just Smith and some electronic sounds taking over at the front end of the bridge, slowly building in tempo and intensity until until the chorus hits once again. 

The Stabbing Westward comparison I made earlier really hits home on "Devil", which is a fun, quirky rocker that leans heavy on the industrial side, but also incorporates some unique percussion sounds, both electronic and human, with some funky bass work thrown into the mix as the instrument doing the heavy lifting during a vocal bridge leading to the final chorus.  And that bridge section...if you don't hear a bit of Kid Rock's "Cowboy" in the way it is structured, we may not be listening to the same song.  Like I said, this is a fun rocker that is unlike anything else on this record.  Check it out below.

"Everything" sounds like it has about three clocks all running in the background, and all are ticking and tocking in slightly different time, which is an odd thing to hear.  At just under a minute, this little interlude leads directly into the ballad, "Standing Here".  An electric current runs beneath the keys that intro the song, drawing up to the guitars and a really big drum sound that would push the track into "power ballad" territory were this 1989.  Make no mistake, this is a modern rocker, but the song's structure and style are definitely a nod to that lighter-in-the-air sound, whether intentional or not.  I dig it...a lot...and I have to think the song goes over well in the live setting.

The album closes on an excellent note with "The Answer", which is definitely one of my top two or three songs on the album.  Hard-hitting and aggressive, "The Answer" is a full-force industrial rock attack from start to...well, almost finish, as there is an echoing keyboard that exits the song and the album.  Smith's vocals are again accompanied by some harsher, lower-register screams that in at least one place sound a lot like Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter.  A nearly perfect way to bring a really good album to a close.

While it does have its quirky moments and expands upon the band's previous sounds, In Love. In Hope. In Peace. is a treat from start to finish and will hopefully draw more attention to a band that deserves to be noticed.  There truly aren't many, if any, bands in the Christian arena that sound like Fight The Fade, and few in the secular world that sound as good as this Oklahoma-based act.  I would strongly encourage you to pick up the album and support the band by shopping directly from their website store, located HERE.

Rating:  Somewhat hard to pin down, especially at the outset, but In Love.In Hope.In Peace cranks its way through to a 7.5 rating!

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GOLD, FRANKINCENSE & MYRRH (GFM) "Oh, The Horror!"

(c) 2019 Independent Release

1. Give Me A Sign
2. The Other Side
3. R.I.P.
4. Never Again
5. On The Inside
6. Can You Promise Me That This Will Never End

CJ English--Vocals, Guitars

Maggie English--Bass, Vocals, Keys

Lulu English--Drums, Vocals

It has been nearly four years since the English sisters (well, they're American sisters named English, so...) released their successful sophomore album, Identity Crisis, on the masses.  (Their 2015 debut EP, Death Of Giants , went largely unnoticed, although four of the six songs were later included on Identity Crisis).  Now, the creators of Beautycore have returned with an EP of six new songs, showing considerable growth not only as musicians, but especially as songwriters.  

The EP kicks off with "Give Me A Sign", which has garnered significant airplay on Christian rock stations throughout the country and clocked in as number 20 on ChristianRock.Net's Top 100 songs of 2019.  A fun punk/metal hybrid, the song is insanely catchy and really shows an increased strength in the clean vocals from CJ, who also rips through some impressive rhythm guitar lines on the song.  Big backing "whoa" vocals add some depth to the track, and Lulu's impressive skills behind the kit really drive this rocker that features almost exclusively clean vocals.

"The Other Side", by contrast, is a lot darker vocally, with Maggie's harsh growls rather staggering to hear coming from the young lady, and standing as a bipolar opposite of the sweet sounds of CJ's voice.  Thick bass chords are a  prominent part of the track, and again, some fiercely aggressive rhythm playing from CJ pushes the more metallic attitude here.

Next up is "R.I.P.", a fun, punkish song that has to be a blast in the live setting, as fans shout along to the song's title in the chorus.  Co-written by Josiah Prince of Disciple, this song likely won't be released as a single, which is a shame, because it really is a catchy tune.  Featuring another really strong bass presence, especially at the beginning, this song also sports some fairly sparse musical sections, especially on the pre-chorus sections, allowing for the contrasting vocals of CJ and Maggie to take more center stage.
If you have ever seen the girls in their cheerleading stage outfits, they are even more appropriate with this song, as there are a couple of sections where the girls chant along (with some additional crowd help), sounding like a high school cheer squad. 

"Never Again" is a more metallic track that has seen recent airplay as a single, and as with so many songs from the trio, the interplay between CJ's (and some of Maggie's) clean vocals and Maggie's harsh screaming growl really drive the song and set it apart from so many other songs on Christian rock radio today.  A strong message of independence and personal belief in oneself, "Never Again" stands as kind of the antithesis of their last album's title, Identity Crisis, as CJ declares, "I am stronger now/I will stand my ground/I won't apologize for who I am!"  The stop-start chugging of the rhythm guitars and bass are punishing, and Lulu's aggressive drumming really pushes the song forward.  Definitely more "core" than a few of the tracks here, there is a brief, pummeling breakdown here and power chords galore as the girls prove they have the musical chops to stand with the boys of the genre.

"On The Inside" is the "radio" song of the batch, with a softer...slightly softer...approach, with the majority of the vocals handled in a cleaner fashion.  Yes, Maggie tears loose with a growl at the onset of the song, but by and large, this is the most melodic of the headbangers on the record.  That doesn't mean the music is less intense, the chords any less powerful, the drums any duller.  But there is definitely a catchiness, a melodic sensibility that the other songs don't really call for that "On The Inside" brings to the table.  Check out the video below and see if you can't detect what I'm talking about.

The EP closes with the latest single, "Can You Promise Me That This Will Never End", which may be the longest song title I have typed since my days in radio when I had to type "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)" by the Bellamy Brothers.  Hey!  Maybe it's a sibling thing.  Okay...of course it isn't.  Anyway, long song title aside, this is a great way to wrap up this impressive EP.  The song starts off with some effects before those meaty rhythm guitars hit and the cymbals crash to announce the arrival of the girls.  As is pretty typical on this effort, CJ handles the vast majority of the clean vocals, although Maggie does drop in some clean harmony vox as well, but her vocal presence is most felt when she snarls her lines in a manner that would likely make Angela Gossard (Arch Enemy) grin.  Lulu does enough double kicking here that it sounds like she's running on her kit, and she has some really interesting patterns she chooses to use before the final run through the chorus.   

To be honest, complaints about this effort are very few, as everything works really well, from the cool cover art to the perfectly executed track listing.  If I had any complaint, it would really be only that the album is just too short and leaves me wanting more!  None of the six songs here top 3:40 in length, and half of them don't even get to three minutes, so the entire EP sits at around 18 minutes.  But it's a really, really fun, interesting, aggressive, and entertaining 18 minutes.

I have never found this EP in the physical format, so as far as I am aware, digital is the only way you can get Oh, The Horror!  Frustratig, to be sure, but I just downloaded the EP (along with the girls' acoustic EP) and burned it so I could take Oh, The Horror! with me on the road.  Available on Amazon and iTunes (and probably just about any other digital store you care to shop), this is definitely a piece of the modern hard rock/metal scene that is worth the download.

As good as Identity Crisis is, Oh, The Horror! tops it in nearly every way!  All that's missing is a softer moment like "Chatter In The Room" from IC.  There seems to be nothing that will stand in the way of these talented, ambitious young women who have certainly raised the bar...and some eyebrows...in the hard music industry, both Christian and secular.  Color me impressed!

Rating:  Very definitely crankable!  Dial this up to an 8!  I only wish it were a bit longer!

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FRAMING HANLEY "Envy"

(c) 2020 Thermal Entertainment

1. Say You Ever
2. Bubbles
3. Misery
4. Joke's On Us
5. Forgiveness Is An Art
6. Puzzle Pieces
7. Maeve
8. Carousel
9. The Way Down
10. Throwing Knives
11. Counterfeit
12. Baggage Claim

Kenneth Nixon--Vocals

Ryan Belcher--Guitars

Nic Brooks--Guitars

Jonathan Stoye--Bass

Shad Teems--Drums

It has been six years...six LONG years for fans of the band...since Framing Hanley released a new album.  Six years of silence from a band that had spent a considerable amount of time on the charts, with 5 singles making their way onto the US Mainstream Rock, Alternative, or Active Rock charts, and even more songs making waves on both satellite and terrestrial rock stations.  While songs such as "Lollipop", "Criminal", "You Stupid Girl", and personal favorite, "Hear Me Now" crashed their way onto numerous stations' playlists...and fans' iPods and phones...the band suddenly went silent following 2014's The Sum Of Who We Are.  But that has all changed now, as Envy will hit stores and music outlets later this month.

Returning to the fray are band founder, Kenneth Nixon, and longtime guitarist, Ryan Belcher, who have been together since 2007, as they create a musical tapestry that is familiar without sounding like a rehash of where the band has been in the past.  Joining the pair are Stoye, who has been in the band since 2013, as well as newcomers, Brooks and Teems, who have been in the band since 2018, with Envy marking the tandem's first appearance on a record.

And what a record to get your feet wet with...

The album kicks off with an intro, of sorts, which I LOVE!  Yes, yes, I know..."Arttie hates intros!"  But not this one.  This one is different.  To be fair, "Say You Ever" is almost a song...almost...although it really serves as an intro to the track, "Bubbles".  But for nearly two minutes, I am sucked into the exquisitely dark melody and nearly as dark lyrics of "Say You Ever", and by the end, I am begging my computer screen to PLEASE PLAY MORE OF THIS!!!  My wife came in as I was yelling at the screen in agony, glaring at me with her "what the heck is wrong with you" look, until I hit play on "Say You Ever" one more time (I was at least a dozen spins through it by now) and then she was as taken aback by the track nearly as much as I.  Why?  Why is this such a short quasi-song?!  From the moment the cello starts the song off, to the moment the handclaps join in, to the moment the piano drops, to the very second before Nixon's haunting vocals hit, "Say You Ever" already has me captivated.  And then the lyrics only grab me more.  "Say you ever gave a damn/Don't say you ever game a damn, or I'll expose you," Nixon begins as he seemingly addresses a betrayer.  "But you were fake from the start/You can't change who you are." Just...wow.  But the condemnation comes next, as he sings, "One day you'll reap what you sow/One day you'll reach your end alone."  But it's not just the words, its the delivery that makes the words so chilling, so darkly delicious.  But like so many great things in this world, "Say You Ever" is just a delightful tease, the lady who longingly stares at you with the come hither eyes, who turns a cheek when you get the nerve up to make your move, who turns around to give you that coy smile as she walks away.  The only payoff here is that I can hit repeat...and I frequently do.

Anyway...

"Bubbles" feeds directly off of "Say You Ever", and if you listen closely, you can hear the tempo and even the same basic rhythm in the song, but with a lot of guitar and bass added to the mix.  And while I love the tempo and structure of this rocker, it's the hook of the chorus that snags your attention and draws you to the song and keeps you there.  Nixon's vocals weave in and out of the chorus in an impressive display of control of his instrument, while the guitars carve out meaty chunks that give the listener even more to sink their teeth into.  "Bubbles" screams Octane to me with the aggressive nature of the music combined with the melodic vocals.  This is good stuff here, folks. Two tracks in and already Envy has my attention in a big way. 

"Misery" is a particularly musical track, which I really enjoy.  By that I mean that there is a lot of note density, with a lot of things going on, while still remaining melodic and not coming off as just a bunch of noises mixed together with words layered over the top.  You know the kind of "song" I'm talking about here.  That's not what you get with "Misery".  As with the vast majority of this album, you get the feeling that this is a very personal track for Nixon, and because of this there is a lot of emotion poured into the vocals here.  A string section (synthesized, I'm assuming) accompanies the edgy guitars and a nice, big drum sound from Teems, and multiple layers of vocals add quality depth to the track.  To me, lyrically, "Misery" just has so much to offer.  I love the second verse, in particular, when Nixon sings, "I've been throwing stones at the looking glass/Denying what I am, denying what I have/The delusion I'm choosin', the truth is it chose me/Coursin' through my veins, like acid in an IV..."  Good, good stuff, as is the chorus, where he seemingly begs, "Take me for all I have to offer/I'm a broken mess...".  I'd be surprised if this doesn't become a single at some point, and I have to believe it will be a huge success in the live setting, as Nixon really gets the chance to show the full range of his vocal abilities here.

Things get a bit alterna-pop on the next track, "Joke's On Us", especially in the verse sections.  The chorus is straight-up modern rock with some great guitar lines, while the verses utilize a lot of lighter programmed elements and electronic drums, which give way to the real thing on those heavier chorus sections.  I wasn't sure what to think of the song the first time through, but the more I hear it, the more I come around to what the guys are doing here.  If there is one song on this album that I feel could potentially cross over to more mainstream playlists, it is likely this one.

The band proves they haven't lost their darker, heavier edge with some excellently angry rockers.  "Forgiveness Is An Art" might be my favorite of these, with its stellar drum work, some churning guitars, and a snarling edge added to Nixon's vocals. It's not a full on, balls-out speed-fest or anything, but the edge is definitely there, especially when Nixon intones, "...hope you choke on the smoke when your world goes down in flames!"  Featuring a quasi-breakdown...followed by something akin to a guitar solo..."Forgiveness Is An Art" has just about anything and everything that modern hard rock fans should love, with big backing vocals, some programmed elements, and interesting-yet-aggressive drum patterns that keep the song charging forward.  Definitely one of my faves from an album that is jam-packed with great tracks.

"Puzzle Pieces", which has been released as a single, is an interesting track to me for a rather personal reason.  It sounds to me like someone who is staring down the barrel of depression, especially with the first couple of lines: "Medicated to the point of apathy/Each day another little pill to swallow..."  And I'm not saying it's personal because I deal with depression, myself.  I say this because I work with kids who struggle with depression (among other various mental health diagnoses), and this kind of thinking is typical of what I encounter.  And I'm not disagreeing with it or judging, by any stretch.  But the writers of the song sound like they know of what they speak.  Musically, the song starts off rather quiet, with some programmed elements running beneath the current of the first lyrical line, but it steadily builds to a mid-tempo rocker filled with melody and hooks, with the phrasing of Nixon's vocals absolutely spot-on.  The songwriting here is a perfect example of the growth and maturation of the band.  While musically, this song is something of a nod to the modern alt-rock that Framing Hanley has become known for, lyrically I don't think that Framing Hanley was ready to write this kind of material a couple of albums ago. 

"Maeve" has a slower-tempo feel to the guitar lines, but there's a bounce in the drum and bass line which keeps it from drifting into ballad territory.  In fact, I would venture to say there is more of a laid-back island feel to the song's structure than anything else.  It's an interesting transition between "Puzzle Pieces" and "Carousel", which share similar tempos, at least initially.  While "Puzzle Pieces" remains a bit heavier emotionally, "Carousel" comes across a bit lighter in approach.

"The Way Down" is a cool rocker with a different guitar tone on the verses than the majority of the record uses, which gives it a different feel overall.  I like the tempo shifts within the track and the chorus section is set up to build expertly.  There's an interesting vocal bridge after the second chorus run, and the final trip through the chorus shakes the phrasing up before coming to an abrupt conclusion.

"Throwing Knives" is a completely different type of song!  Had this come out in the 80s, it would likely have been labelled a "power ballad", but I don't think it really slows itself enough to be a true ballad.  Regardless, I love this track!  I think part of the reason for this is that "Throwing Knives" sounds a lot like the kind of music that one of my all-time favorite bands, Royal Bliss, would do, and it just grabs me.  The intensity of the song steadily builds, both musically and vocally, until both hit their peak in the chorus sections.  The bass of Stoye figures prominently in the quieter moments, especially in the run up to the previously mentioned choruses.  One other thing that is impossible to overstate is that this is also a song that really finds Nixon showcasing his singing ability.  No, he doesn't stretch his range or perform any kind of vocal acrobatics, but as far as emotion-packed, effects-free singing, "Throwing Knives" is Nixon at his peak.  And the guitar solo from Belcher is one of his best on the record.  The layered string section, the tight rhythm section, the backing vocals...everything is spot-on here on a track that I think could really serve the band well at radio if its given a chance.

"Counterfeit" is a catchy, pop-filtered number that works well but isn't the best moment of the record by any stretch.  However, it serves as a strong intro to the one true ballad on the record, the album's closer, "Baggage Claim".  A strong melody and spot-on backing vocals create a truly great track to wrap up an excellent return for this band.  At times hinting at being a bit Nashville, at others a bit more Tom Petty-inspired Americana/heartland rock, "Baggage Claim" showcases a band that is comfortable with who they are now, a band that won't be pigeonholed by who they were in the past.  In fact, all of Envy feels like that to me.  Taking sections of their catalog and expanding upon it, Framing Hanley have matured as songwriters, and the new musical incarnation of the band is extremely tight, very focused, and serve up a product that should fit into the modern rock scene but without becoming lost in the cookie-cutter world of so many other bands all striving to sound like the current big thing.  Framing Hanley sounds like Framing Hanley, no more, no less.  And isn't that what all bands should strive for?  Being themselves?

The production is rock solid, with a great, clean mix, with no muddiness at all.  The guitars have strong voices and separation, and the bass is given the opportunity to express itself in several places on the album.  I also can't say enough about the work Teems does behind the kit, keeping the tempos crisp and clean, but never boring or repetitive, with each song getting its own particular pattern and style.  And what else needs to be said about the powerful performance of Nixon here?  Teasingly falsetto in places, rich and powerful in others, even dropping in fun, playful doses of AutoTune where it makes musical sense and doesn't detract from the overall effect of the song.

This is a heavy album; there aren't a lot of light-hearted moments here (though there are a couple).  That doesn't mean the album is depressing, however.  It means Envy is introspective, it means thought-provoking, it even means challenging at times.  The lyrics here are real, touching on emotions that everybody deals with from time to time and relationship to relationship.  And when darkness creeps into the tracks, its always with the belief that there is light to be found somewhere else, even if we have to burn down the things that keep us boxed in to find it.  As I stated before, I don't think Framing Hanley was ready to write this album earlier in their career.  But they are ready now, and they deliver in an impressive way.  In the end, to say that Framing Hanley is back in a big way would be an understatement.  I don't really care where they went, I just don't want them to go there again and leave us without more great music.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go play "Say You Ever" a few more times...

Rating:  Crank-a-ble, to be sure.  Envy is the first 9 of 2020!

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RENEE KEEL with RON KEEL "Anything But Pink" (Book Review)

(c) 2020 BookBaby

I had the good fortune to meet Renee Keel when she accompanied Ron to perform at SkullFest in 2014.  My observation of Renee was that she was a quiet partner, herself an observer of the adoration people had for her husband.  She was polite and cordial, yet reserved and soft-spoken, minding Ron's merchandise table while he was performing or meeting with fans.  She was not a groupie, not some big-haired, loud-mouthed character bragging of her exploits with this star or that.  She was real.  As the book says of her, "Renee lives in Sioux Falls, SD with her Rockstar husband, and is proud to bring a touch of analytical order to his artistic chaos."  To be honest, I could sense that.  And while  I cannot say that I got to "know" Renee, I was glad for the opportunity to meet her, as she added a sense of reality to the crazy "Rockstar World" many envision their favorite artists to live in.   

Just two years later, Renee would be diagnosed with breast cancer, and her world, as well as the world of her famous husband, would be "rocked".  Rather than cave to her diagnosis, however, Renee chose to fight cancer, and to share her fight with whomever chose to follow along, as she started a blog about what she and Ron were going through.

Now, that blog has been put together, along with insights from Ron on what he was going through, in book form.  Anything But Pink: On Becoming a Cancer Survivor is an in-depth look at one woman's fight against the dreaded "C" word, both the highs and lows, the somewhat humorous moments, and the tear-inducing moments.  Also included are insights from Ron, who went into his own version of "fight mode", determined to "liquidate most of my primary assets...down to every last $5 autographed 8 x 10 photo I can sell" to help finance his wife's fight.  Making the fight even harder was the fact that Renee lost her job, and Ron saw his hours at a radio station drastically cut, as well.  But rather than shrink from the fight, the couple faced the battle head on, with both leaning on each other as they worked through shock, fear, and despair in the face of an enemy that attacks seemingly at random and without notice.

Maintaining the flow and structure of the blog, the book is easy to read...at least from a stylistic point of view.  There were several times I had to put the book down, as the descriptions of what Renee was going through hit a bit close to home, as I recognized similarities to the cancer fight my own father-in-law had gone through just a few years prior to Renee's.  To most anyone who has dealt with cancer, or who has had someone close to them go through the battle of their life, Anything But Pink may prove to be a very tough read, to be sure, but I feel nearly everyone would agree that the story contained in these pages is 100% honest and 100% real.

It wasn't until I finished the book that I really understood what Ron was singing about on his newest album, Fight Like A Band.  In fact, I always wondered why the first verse wasn't even using the words "Fight Like A Band".  Now I understand, as after reading the book, I have come to understand the title track is very autobiographical, with that first verse being a miniaturized version of Renee's battle.  About his wife, Ron sings...

"When the doctors came in, And gave her the news,
She cried, and she smiled, And she did what she had to...
Tough as nails, and stronger than I've ever been!

Shake your fist, Make your plans,
Use what you got and do what you can.
If you're gonna take on the world...
Fight Like a Girl!"

But this book isn't about Ron, at least directly.  This book is about Renee and her fight, with Ron being a supporting character to her story.  Sure, his status in the hard rock and metal world will draw some to the book that may not have otherwise picked it up, but Renee's story stands on its own.  It needs...no, it DESERVES to be read, because it is a story that could end up being about anyone at anytime.  As such, hers is a story of survival, of hope, of courage, and of dogged determination to fight the battle on her own terms.

Not a Rock N Roll story, but definitely a story that will rock you, Anything But Pink is a powerful book with a powerful message.  Pick it up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookBaby, or Renee's own site, ReneeKeel.com

Paperback

238 Pages

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