Calling all gods of rock to rock out with Gun Barrel! The “challenge of the gods to be free,” as heard in “Ride the Dragon.”
You will bang your head at various speeds. Depending on what instrument you favor, any one of them will rule!
You want drums? They’ll give you that-and then some. Check out the cowbell in “Bashing Thru.” For the trained ear in percussion, the cymbals will have power over the guitar in “Passion Rules.” If you don’t get goosebumps in the intro of “Vultures Are Waiting,” you might want to check your heavy-metal pulse.
You want guitar? They’ll give you that too-in every style, every speed, which at times will change by the measure, as heard in the “Vultures are Waiting.” In “Back Alley Ruler,” you’ll hear anything from Southern rock to glam rock, such as a little bit of Ratt in the guitar break towards the end. Killer guitar fade in “Rise Up to the Storm.”
You want bass? It has its moments of prominence, such as a six-second bass break in “Passion Rules”-a shout out to those you love them some bass. And how low do think it can go in “Rise Up to the Storm”?
You want a killer metal vocalist who shows he’s a devout follower of the god of rock? You’ve got him here. High-held notes a la Michael Sweet in “Damage Dancer”-I haven’t heard a note held that long at the end of a song since Ann Wilson in “Dream of the Archer.”
He’s got the grit like Meine with a touch of Angus, and Ozzy’s and Mustaine’s lyrical quality. He’s Angus Young on southern rock in “Heading for Disaster”. The chorus in “Vultures Are Waiting”-otherwise known as “’Judgment Day’ prequel”-gave me goosebumps.
His way of words kept me wanting to hear more. “Smell of thunder in the air” and “riding shotgun with your fears,” as heard in “Judgment Day; “I locked myself in a tower cell, and I swallowed down the key” and “My heart is winter-bound, the world slows down,” in “Whiteout”; “I’m building a monster to clean up this mess…to make things upright,”-a contradiction of terms-in “Building a Monster”; and “I’m so damned close that I can taste it,” in “Rise Up to the Storm.”
If I had to choose one song as my favorite, it would be “Back Alley Ruler.” “On the road, I’m king”…that’s the only line you need to know from it. And between mentioning a Chevy Van-and that’s alright with me-and that it’s only rock and roll (but I like it), they mind the classics.
Julia Pope, HMS
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