From the opening riff to the final
throbbing beat, Tony Iommi proves he’s still got the goods. He’s assembled a tight, powerful trio
with rock icons Glenn Hughes and Kenny Aronoff.
The result is a solid album that gives the feeling of a veteran rock
band with dozens of albums under their belts.
Dopamine is the first song is the heaviest and probably the
most addictive on the album. It’s
got cutting vocals, crunchy guitar riffs and a great (albeit brief) solo that
sets the table for the main course.
It’s one of the few tunes that is light on the blues (at least to
these ears) but that turns out to be welcome; a way of keeping the album in
balance.
I never thought I’d use the word
“sassy” in anything (unless I was reminiscing on Phil Hartman)
but here it is: Saviour of the Real
is sassy. Sassy blues, sassy guitar,
sassy vocals. God, do I need a
thesaurus. Speaking of God, there is an
undeniable spiritual tone to the lyrics that starts to assert itself here. Anyway, everything I said is meant in a good
way.
The class of the album is Grace, a melodic prog-metal triumph with some great axework and
interesting tempo changes. The
production on this track is phenomenal, especially with the opening vocal
effects and crisp percussion throughout.
It’s an ambitious song that also includes one of Iommi’s
best solos on the album. I’m not
the kind of person to cherry-pick songs on iTunes, but heck, if you are that kind of person then this is
the one to drop your 99 cents on. Again
with the spiritual lyrics but boy do they work.
The final offering I Go Insane is the opus – over nine minutes and a very
satisfying conclusion to a well put-together album worthy of most collections. I’m almost glad that Ozzfest is skipping
|
|
|
Author:
Sean Denomey. |