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Monday, November 14, 2016

Chevelle Opens Up a Demonic Door Full of Fiery Riffs

Chevelle is back, hungry, and ready to deliver some bone crunching words in the first installment off its new foray into the rock world, "The North Corridor", which goes by the moniker "Door To Door Cannibals". Kudos to guitarist Pete Loeffler for delivering the fire that refuses to be extinguished. The bridge explodes with his hefty hooks and you start to wonder, "Did a real human being actually drive home these enticing sounds. The pacing goes ever so deliberate, the better to wring out each flop sweat inducing nugget. Pete's lyrics make you groan in all the right places. You're in the middle of the horror show yet at a safe enough distance where the threat of bodily harm is remote, if it exists at all. How prickly heat inducing does "They're like cannibals from the grass stealing lives" come across to you? Checking to make sure your jugular vein is where you remembered it being last? That's a positive sign if ever one existed. Dean Bernardini drops mouth-watering bass as if he were spreading rich barbecue sauce across genuine choice chuck. Sonically "Door To Door Cannibals isn't without its endearing quirks. The bridge guitar gets us back to the sort of showoff moves that metal lovers desire chapter and verse. Before the fret bore down relentlessly until there was no way you could hope to cry uncle. Sam Loeffler employs his drum labor sparingly but we'd miss it were it nowhere to be found. A little bit here, a little bit there but nothing that suggests a swagger that keeps anyone else from having an opportunity to shine. The collective gets what greater good it's contributing to. I myself like that Chevelle wants for me to take sensible bites of this cut of raw meat rather than wolf it down in one Simpsons style gulp. I get to appreciate the rich flavor palette at work beneath the surface. I get to hear for myself what a multi-tiered masterpiece is brewing. I haven't found too many songs in which reference gets made to the jocular fingers in the face. Chevelle shows us again that there's a first time for everything. In a rock tune that's a daring image to send our way. A little levity alongside our patented rock bugs in the teeth demeanor. Chevelle does the squirm inducing job nicely and we get the sense we need to hold on for dear life because who knows where the ride is going to take us. I believe Chevelle should have no problem selling the masses on how much of a cranium buster they're in for. "Door To Door Cannibals" says quite a mouthful, and does so in zestful fashion.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Lots Of Love Coming Your Way Thanks To Shinedown

Shinedown's new "How Did You Love" explores the question of how one presumably gets remembered in this life. An unexpected piano riff gets us into this discussion regarding what type of mark we left behind. Ostensibly it's about the sort of love you distributed to your friends, family, etc. Shinedown bursts into high gear during the choral refrain as a means of demonstrating how passionate they are towards this topic. Vocalist Brent Smith fully engages in now or never urgency and that's what takes this song up as many notches as it can possibly go. Zach Myers pummels you through guitar work that, as they say in football, doesn't take a down off. Check out how potent it sounds at the bridge. Conviction, thy name is Brent. Each note comes through so clearly that your tone deaf ninety year old grandpa could grasp this message. Shinedown has previously demonstrated how adept it is at marrying thoughtfully cooked harmonies to excellent vocal technique. Whether it's soundtrack work or studio craft, these Floridians know how to hammer home a point until you've got it committed to memory. These lyrics point out how losing yourself in the shuffle on the way to your preordained headstone carries with it untold agony. So while you're on your knees in the religious institution, hoping your God has that direct line to your soul, best remember how did you treat people on this side of the life sphere. Brent stresses that it's up to you to find your own way while you're hear so that, in the final analysis, regret has no chance to poison your heart, and therefore infect the hearts of those around you who were silly enough to let you into their inner circle. All of what makes Shinedown an awesome outfit to be reckoned with comes through in this slightly under three and a half minute ball of flames and life ethic examination. As you might expect from a song draped in such royal finality, headstone and cemetery imagery factor in largely. Life's a one take film so you'd better leave no doubt about the sort of man or woman you had hoped to be because after the curtain comes down that's what they'll take away. If the cat that ate the canary grin is your final visual offering to the wider world then others can remember for all eternity a guy who remembered to pack a smile alongside his workaday lunch pail. Eric Bass plunges into our chests fearlessly on bass. He knows how to hammer home the now or never vigor so we have to at least acknowledge the sense of uneasiness pondering one's final sentiments can dredge up. I've always respected Brent for how masterfully he gets his tonsils wagging for us. No lack of bravado or horsepower from him. Even during songs that aren't as weighty as "How Did You Love" Brent can command an audience's total attention simply by refusing to dial down his macho muscle flexing. Drummer Barry Kerch pounds away without fear but also without hogging the center of attention. In summary "How Did You Love" strikes the sort of energizing pose that's impossible to hate.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Alter Bridge Shows Us Some Potent Political Muscle

The damned song has a super charged intro before Myles Kennedy even appears to blast home some political fire and brimstone on vocals. We're talking 1 minute, 15 seconds of pronounced muscle flexing just to get your palate warmed up. Yes folks, Alter Bridge wants to talk presidential race with us and aims to do so in all their electric guitar venom pierced glory. Mark Tremonti and Myles lay out the electric thunder. The bridge brought me to my knees in amazement. The drumming courtesy of Scott Phillips as part of the aforementioned intro melted face. No two ways about it, "Show Me a Leader" thoroughly encapsulates the spirit of this political season. Enough with the half-hearted promises that never amount to jack squat. Myles and crew want a candidate who doesn't bring lies as part of the package. They want hope to survive and, believe me, in this political cycle, one wonders if it has boiled down to the lesser of the two evils rather than some white knight on a stallion ready to save us from ourselves. "Show Me a a Leader" crackles from stem to stern. If you lean in close you can practically smell the fire in the band members throats. There comes an emphatic "NO" throughout the main verses. No to the way it has always been. No to pretenders to the throne. No to business as usual in Washington. Way to shift chords and speed, guys. That, in the intro, underscores how uneasy this particular election is making everyone, particularly from sheer overexposure. It feels like the Clinton/Trump wars have been raging on since the Stone Age. This song sounds perfect as the vehicle to bring the assorted divisions to a rousing climax. Absolutely stellar melody. It is programmed to send shivers down an unsuspecting spine or three. "Show Me a Leader" sounds a lot like Alter Bridge's stab at a magnum opus. If so then this was a success to end all success stories. You don't get much crispier than Alter Bridge's sustained power rant against the waged power struggles. Brian Marshall gives amazing balls to his wielding of the bass. In fact it too lends this outing menace, as if that was running low in the first place at the outset. Disillusionment fills the smoke penetrated hallway. It has come time to act and make peace with decisions made, ruminated over, and possibly regretted in the long run. Myles rages about the fool's errand that's known as waiting for the one whose intentions are pure gold. That's like waiting for a unicorn to traverse the morning sky. Nice fantasy but no basis in reality, but the fantasy has its sex appeal for sure. "Show Me a Leader" shows us the 2016 version of Alter Bridge has boned up on the steamy political climate and knows how to turn that ample frustration into a laser sharp hard rocking diamond that looks you right between the eyes, daring you to be the one who blinks first.