Rules were meant to be broken. Cheers to my contributor John for stepping up while I deal with many things creatively (most recently my newly launched deathfest Buffalo Gorefest). He posted a review about earbuds and recently a release about a a comedic nu metal release, now I’m doing the same.
My favorite musician and guitarist of all time is Zakk Wylde. I know, he’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But damn, he inspired me hard to be a musician and play guitar. His band’s schtick isn’t for everyone, but man it’s fucking Zakk Wylde. He now is part of the Pantera tribute, Zakk Sabbath (Black Sabbath tribute band Ozzy himself blessed a good decade ago), BLS and occasional guitar tributes (Hendrix Experience, G3 and other various guitar tours). Oh and he does a ton of interviews all while writing music. AND he dropped his second acoustic/southern rock album in 2016 “Book Of Shadows 2”. He also toured it, and did an “Unblackened tour” where he played a ton of songs from “Book Of Shadows” and his southern rock project “Pride & Glory”. Oh and he has his own guitar company “Wylde Audio”. I’m massively failing to simply say: WHERE THE HELL DOES HE FIND TIME TO WRITE NEW MUSIC? His work ethic has inspired me deeply as well.
Now to finally talk about the new album “Engines Of Demolition” ….holy shit. Probably the best album the band has put out since “Order Of The Black”. Order was huge being his first album while sober (blood clot issues persisted during a show and forced his hand) and it SLAYED. The production was solid, his vocal performance was great and was the first album recorded in his home studio. Oddly enough, there aren’t many pinch harmonics and that’s a lot of people’s beef with him. The riffs are sick, the shred is out of this world and there’s many points he sounds like his younger self vocally. Like, early BLS and Book of Shadows era with that southern twang on occasion. It’s not fast as expected (there were some quicker riffs on Order like Godspeed Hellbound) , but was even heavier influenced by the doomy Black Sabbath sound even more.
The track we were waiting for made me cry a few times “Ozzy’s Song”. “Master Of Reality” was my first metal album and led me to discover Tony Iommi and the aforementioned Zakk Wylde (two of my all time favorites). It’s as good as the ballad for Dime “In This River”. The bass lines and drum work are solid as usual in a groove metal (slightly rock) focused band. The intro on “Name in Blood” harbors a huge AC/DC influence.
The artwork is a step up (finally) from honestly two lackluster efforts. “Doom Crew Inc” from 2021 was just the logo. For those that don’t know, that’s the term he calls his road crew. “Grimmest Hits” was a picture of a grim reaper on a green background. Meh. This though has a mashup of the band mascot “Skully” with a motorcycle. The background is a newer combination of his “bullseye” design mixed with the original design he wanted a “vertigo” design. He’s been using that combo on Wylde Audio guitars which kinda looks cool. Finally, a cool BLS cover after a few subpar covers,
The ballads were great too, some using clean electric guitar not just acoustic guitar. I dig that changeup. As a massively obsessed fan, I can objectively say “Engines Of Demolition” does exactly that. There were some solid songs the last two albums but there was NO letup on this one. The classic strategy of a few heavy songs then a ballad never fails. Keeps the album refreshing. And it’s oddly longer 13 songs 52 minutes averaging 4 minutes per song. But man it’s worth it, trust me.
My boy is back and with a better record. He still has it at 59 going on 60, and is rather impressive. Don’t waste any time and listen to this. And try not to weep during “Ozzy’s Song” like I did.
Courtesy of technicalmusicreview.com.
