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'Warball' is the
11th release from Vicious Rumours and once again sees a change
in line up for the band. Although one thing that has remained a
constant throughout the bands history and that is Geoff Thorpe on guitar.
Now he is joined once again by Larry Howe on drums who makes a welcome
return to the band, as does Dave Starr on bass, and completing the band
are the very capable guitars of Brad Gillis and Thaen Rasmussen, and on
vocals James Rivera.
'Warball' sees
the band return to fold with a monster of an album. This is helped
by the phenomenal vocal talent that is Rivera, who has a voice with the
power of Rob Halford and majesty of Andy Deris, a true rock voice if every
there was one.
The album gets
off to rampaging start with ‘Sonic Rebellion’, a track that highlights
instantly what a power-force vocally Rivera is.
The album
continues its break neck ride of metal majesty with ‘Mr. Miracle’, a track
that hits all the right notes as metal tracks go, with the right elements
of a fantastic vocalist, a powerhouse rhythm section and a guitarist who
can shred like the best of them.
The metal
onslaught just keeps coming with the anthemic ‘Dying Every Day’, with
Rivera giving us those Screaming for Vengeance style vocals and Thorpe
ripping out those power chords like there’s no tomorrow.
The power and
majesty of the band never eases as the album continues to impress with the
riff laden ‘Immortal’, but track of the album has to be the title track ’Warball’,
a track full of soaring guitars and monstrous riffs from Thorpe and what
about those vocals again.
‘Crossthreaded’
is another melting pot of metal cliché with a huge back beat from Starr
and Howe and some once again excellent guitar work from Thorpe.
Another riff enthused is ‘Wheels of Madness’ with Thorpe getting a little
twin guitar action with the help of Thaen Rasmussen.
Things slow down
just a touch with the poignant tones of ‘Windows Of Memory’, then it's
time to step back on the gas with another guitar ridden song ‘A Ghost
Within’, this is where the Halford reference is most dominant.
The album closes with
the almost thrash ‘Oceans Of Rage’, with even Rivera’s vocals stretched to
their limits on this one. This rounds off another chapter in the
Vicious Rumours history and with an impending tour scheduled for later
this year early next the crowds should be snatching up the tickets on the
strength of this release alone. |
