Written by Alex Mrkonjic TRACK LISTING King Of The Ring We The People The Killer’s Inside Bleeding Hands Chasing Dragons Till The Head Explodes What You’re Made Of Raise Em’ Up Ignorance & Greed Blind Leading The Blind Violent State Of Mind Lords Of Thunder Rebel Yell (Billy Idol cover) Release Date: June 2, 2017 Label: Century Media Records Website: www.adrenalinemob.com |
Russell Allen - Vocals Mike Orlando - Guitar & Vocals David Zablidowsky - Bass Jordan Cannata - Drums
Entering the fold for the new album is bassist David Zablidowsky of Trans-Siberian Orchestra fame and drummer Jordan Cannata, who has some big shoes to fill following Mike Portnoy and A.J. Pero. Right off the bat, he makes his presence known with the heavy hitting “King of the Ring” and “We the People”. The former is a typical Adrenaline Mob track and Cannata’s drumming is at the forefront of the song. It made me think “this guy is going to be just fine”. Combine that with some killer bass lines from David Z and lightning fast solos from Mike Orlando and you have a recipe for an amazing hard rock song.
Aside from the first three songs, and a couple others here and there, the album as a whole is not as heavy hitting as I thought it would be. A couple of songs confused me when I thought it would be a ballad, but then it randomly gets heavy or starts heavy then goes light. “What You’re Made Of” starts off with crunching riffs and Russell Allen’s low crunching voice, then I heard Russell try to hit the very high note during the course and it was not pleasant. Other songs like “Chasing Dragons” and “Raise ‘Em Up” make you think they are going to be heavy hitters, but they randomly throw in a lighter tone in the chorus and it just throws the whole song off. I got a Def Leppard vibe from these tracks and let me just say that it doesnt work. Even the ballad on the album “Bleeding Hands” was very bland and uninspiring.
However, this album has some pretty awesome songs as well. “Ignorance & Greed”, “The Killer’s Inside”, “Lords of Thunder” and their cover of “Rebel Yell” made me remember the Adrenaline Mob that I love. They got my pulse pounding and had some amazing solos from Orlando, who is on top of his game for this album and is one of the high points. “Lords of Thunder” was confusing for a bit because it started out as an instrumental for about a minute then vocals randomly came in, but it was still a great track. “Ignorance & Greed” features by far one of Orlando’s best solo’s.
Overall, this album is not as good as their previous efforts. A lot of the songs are confusing and change tone at the snap of a finger. The vocals get a little too high for the kind of hard rock that they are known for. I will listen to a couple songs from the album, but I will mostly stick too the last two records.
Rating: 6.5/10
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