Cost: $2.00
Originally discovered this band after seeing a t-shirt, and I remember the band name conjuring up associations with Southern/sludge/stoner metal. It took me quite a while to actually hear them, because they use very, uh, ill-fitting album covers that dissuaded me from checking them out. Their album art aesthetic almost always tends to look like some sort of modern generic retro-hard rock band. This point was even brought up in an interview, and the band revealed they delegate the album art and layout decisions to other parties, like the record label. Terrible idea. This is probably the least worst of their album covers at representing the music, as at least the Flying V in the logo and the album title indicate something metal. The comic-style artwork of a cop chasing motorbikers seems like an odd choice, though. I associate retro motorcyclists with accosting Speed Racer or people in A-Ha videos rather than heavy metal. Even the logo has the chevron thing and superfluous graphic embellishments that scream "made by a graphic designer, not a metalhead." I already have one of the band's older albums, and the cover art looks like a tattoo someone obsessed with Affliction t-shirts would get.
Now that I think about it, Boulder has problems with terrible album covers as well, so I wonder if part of the problem is bands with significant '70s hard rock influences trying to consciously avoid anything that could be seen as an '80s metal trope while working within an indie label budget. I'm sure that cuts out a lot of cool aesthetics, but I'm not convinced it automatically condemns bands to crappy cover art options.
On the album I previously heard, the solos and guitarwork were quite good, but the metal in the band's sound was negatively diluted by all the '70s rock and stoner influences. "Freedom Metal" has all of those same basic elements, but they seem to be more balanced in favor of the metal influences, and it comes off as more enjoyable. The first half of the disc is the strongest, dense with heaviness, very NWOBHM-inspired leadwork, and nice catchy choruses. I read something online comparing the vocals to Paul Stanley, and that's strangely accurate--especially on "Night Oath," they sound like Paul with some nasally effect added.
Unfortunately, "Heat Feeler" kills a lot of earlier momentum. For its first half, it's an acoustic guitar-anchored Southern (or even
country?)-tinged mellow number. After it heavies up it's much better, but the first part is so dissimilar from the previous tracks, it's very jarring. Then there's "Ol' Girl," which on the one hand is
cool for being full of Thin Lizzy worship, but it's so much more blatant than on any other song and feels out of place. "Greek Fire" shows the band doing Sabbathy stuff riff wise, but it's all underneath a monotonous drumbeat which I
can't decide if I like or not.
As a cheapo find, this was fine. The first 3 songs alone are well worth the 2 bucks. But I can't help but think this is a band that is more to be enjoyed in small doses or in a live setting. I'm far more a classic metal fan than a hard rock one, and it constantly feels like the guitarwork is making promises the rest of the album often struggles to keep. I think it's a waste that some of the tasty harmonized twin guitar attacks here aren't being used in more overtly NWOBHM-influenced band.
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