Wow, if there was ever an album with some great musicians that aren’t
all from the same band, it’s this one. I’ve heard tons of tribute
albums, and I know there are some that feature a “house band” with
special guests. This is no tribute album, and the musicians on here are
certainly worthy of a better title than “house band.” The team captains
for this album are Dino Cazares (ex-FEAR FACTORY/BRUJERIA), Robert
Flynn (MACHINE HEAD), Joey Jordison (SLIPKNOT/MURDERDOLLS), and Matt
Heafy (TRIVIUM). The only captain that I questioned a little was Matt,
and not because I feel he lacked any talent, but because he’s such a
new artist to Roadrunner compared to some of the other guys involved in
this album. One song that I am particularly impressed with is “In The
Fire” with KING DIAMOND on vocals and Matt and Corey from Trivium on
guitars. They really managed to make it sound like a King Diamond song,
not just some metal song with King on vocals, this song could easily be
thrown onto a King Diamond album and you’d have no idea that it isn’t
King’s band. The song “The Dawn of a Golden Age” with Dani Filth
(CCRADLE OF FILTH) on vocals is amazing as well, Dani’s vocals sound
incredible and Mike Smith (SUFFOCATION) does a hell of a job on drums.
The duo of Mikael Akerfeldt (OPETH) and Josh Silver (Type O Negative)
on “Roads” was a great pairing, as well as proving you don’t need 4-6
musicians on each song to make it sound great. “I Don’t Wanna Be (A
Superhero)” is a blast back to the Michale Graves-era Misfits. Graves
does a great job on this song, which seems to blend metal and punk
flawlessly. All of these songs qualify as my favorites on the album,
but the one that I find myself listening to the most is “Enemy Of The
State” with Peter Steele (TYPE O NEGATIVE) on vocals. Of all the
vocalists on this album my top 4 are Peter Steele, King Diamond, and
Corey Taylor; in that order. Peter’s vocals on this track remind me a
lot of Type O Negative’s Bloody Kisses album. It also helps that Joey
Jordison, Josh Silver, and Dave Pybus (CRADLE OF FILTH) are also on the
track, along with Steve Holt (36 CRAZYFISTS) they’ve managed to create
a masterpiece with this song.
This album is great in and of itself, and it’s even better
when you consider that it features some of the best musicians
Roadrunner has offered over the course of its existence.
