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Artist: Impellitteri |
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After
a six-year absence Rob Rock returns to Impellitteri … that
might look like a good headline but what
makes a really great headline is ... Impellitteri returns with
monster album read all about it ! Well
it's taken three years in the making but at last the latest chapter in
the Impellitteri band is here as they release their brilliant new album
'Wicked Maiden'. Never
mind what has gone before with the band, this is an all kicking and
screaming metal album with the formidable guitar licks of Chris
Impellitteri, who gets things underway from the off with the album
opener ‘Wicked Maiden’, with Rock firing on all six as always on
vocals. If ever there was a voice made for Metal then it's Rocks
as he powers through not only the opener but the entire album.
Impellitteri is also in riveting fine form as he fires out speed
enthused melodies like the guitar was part of him and not a separate
entity. The
album continues it's breathtaking pace with the rampaging ‘Last Of A
Dying Breed’. I’m a big fan of guitar orientated metal at it's
best and this is just that, laden with power riffs and licks and with
Rock equal to Impellitteri’s splendour with a set of pipes that would
shatter concrete, this is the real Impellitteri at work here. But
the band is more that just these two metal titans as James Pulli and
Glen Sobel on bass and drums respectfully make their mark on the mammoth
‘Weapons Of Mass Destruction’, with the rhythm section rains down
like an uncontrollable thundercloud busting at the seams, with Rock and
Impellitteri both simply fantastic. There's
a touch of old school Metal next with ‘Garden Of Eden’ with
Impellitteri spewing out riff after riff like there's no tomorrow,
before the mammoth metal fusion of guitar and bass in ‘The Vision’.
This is a real monster. Very much a modern 'Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath' at the start but as the track unfolds it just steams ahead and
blows you away. To
show there’s more to the Impellitteri sound that pure bred metal,
thing's are brought down a touch with the more melodic metal tones of
‘Eyes Of An Angel’, a real touch of class this one which showcases
Rock’s ability to switch things around vocally when needed. Once
again Impellitteri’s guitar work on this song is some of the best
I’ve heard this year. We
go a little more funky with a rocking slice of good fun with ‘High
School Revolution’. Think ‘Hot For Teacher’ meets
‘Eruption’ but more metal, then you’ll have this one down to a
tee. It's
back to the pure metal with ‘Wonderful Life’, a great up-tempo
rocker that really seems to bring out the best in the band, great
guitars as always, a fantastic vocal and an ass-kicking rhythm section,
what more could you ask for? The
darker vide is visited on the massive ‘Holyman’. A huge mix of
thumping bass lines and double kick drums intertwined with the keyboard
and narrative vocal for atmospheric overtones, with Rock towering above
it all. The
album is rounded off with the titanic metal overture that is ‘The
Battle Rages On’. This is modern heavy metal at it's best it's
almost Prog Metal in it's formation. Huge keys and guitar sections
with an under lining power base which rounds off a great album. It
may have taken three years to create but it's worth every minute, if
you're gonna do something this good then time isn’t an issue, just the
final product counts and this final product is a metal masterpiece. |
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Tracklisting:
1. Wicked Maiden
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