{"id":18329,"date":"2014-04-10T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T00:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18329"},"modified":"2014-04-10T09:57:13","modified_gmt":"2014-04-10T09:57:13","slug":"album-review-sebastian-bach-give-em-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-sebastian-bach-give-em-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"SEBASTIAN BACH – Give \u2019Em Hell (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEBASTIAN BACH
Give \u2019Em Hell<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nFrontiers (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 9.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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When I grew up as a teenager in the 1980s, I never expected my heavy metal heroes Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne to eventually become household names taking on cartoonish facades. Over time I would lose interest in these rock giants, despite the fact their music evolved through the decades.<\/p>\n

For me, the heavy metal genre needs heroes, but often such idols need to be of a certain disposition; mainly as more than able rockers with not a care in the world, but whose music remained cool and hard throughout. If you ask me, it\u2019s about time that former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach became a champion within our beloved genre. <\/p>\n

After a staggeringly brilliant and wondrously heavy debut solo album (2007\u2019s Angel Down<\/em><\/a>), a bruising follow up (2011\u2019s Kicking & Screaming<\/em><\/a>) and a superb live record (2013\u2019s ABachalypse Now<\/em><\/a>), Sebastian has kept the fires burning and released another belligerent opus in the form of Give \u2019Em Hell<\/em>, which features 12 more tracks of hard-hitting, punchy rock \u2019n\u2019 roll face-slappers that deserve to be heard in every household.<\/p>\n

Mr Bach is way too cool to inhabit the menagerie which houses Ozzy and company; his no frills demeanour and simple aim to rock hard means that the lanky, snarling frontman will probably be overlooked when it comes to heavy metal idols, but boy can this guy sing and with conviction too. <\/p>\n

Those of you still stuck in those hair-lacquered days of old where Skid Row were being touted as the next big thing need not apply, because Give \u2019Em Hell<\/em> is another robust slab of melodic metal that combines the swagger of that punishing debut with the subtlety of its follow-up, the result being that Bach and his merry band of moshing musicians have come up with another scorcher that\u2019ll embed itself into your skull for years to come.<\/p>\n

So, where do we start? Well, at the beginning of course, with the rattling \u2018Hell Inside My Head\u2019 and its infectious melody as well as Devin Bronson\u2019s jarring riffs. \u201cI am a slave to your system,\u201d<\/em> Bach mourns over Bobby Jarzombek\u2019s bone-shuddering drums, only then to squeal, \u201cThis is my time, I\u2019m rising…\u201d<\/em> before taking us into a void of murky riffs, and once again that ascending chorus. Already we\u2019re hooked on this meaty masterpiece, even before the sleazoid jerk of \u2018Harmony\u2019 comes in to corrupt the ears. This time round the vocal displays more melody, especially with another monstrous chorus that just soars into the heavens. <\/p>\n

The production here (courtesy of Bob Marlette) is fantastic, giving the record space to breath and the varying instruments to shine. Rarely does a record have such an impact after just one listen, so by the time you are on your tenth journey through Give \u2019Em Hell<\/em>\u2019s opening tracks, you\u2019ll find it impossible to tear yourself away. <\/p>\n

\u2018All My Friends Are Dead\u2019 trundles with menace, all before the riff kicks in like a grunge-sodden serpent that writhes uncontrollably before Bach bemoans, \u201cAll my friends are dead, I\u2019m left all alone, still I live and breathe\u201d<\/em>. The sneer is orgasmic as the back-beat simmers with gnarly weight that cavorts with the melody, prior to the track becoming awash with sprawling guitars and subsequently returning to that eerie, doom-laden plod. It\u2019s a corker of a track that leaks into the volatile sway of \u2018Temptation\u2019, which again offers a bruising riff and pulverising percussion. <\/p>\n

Again, Bach toys with subtle melody and harder structures. Just like the previous three, the track effortlessly cruises into a soaring chorus, but just when you think this is going to be an album of light and dark consultation we are blessed by the angelic tinkle of \u2018Push Away\u2019, which builds as a rumble, interwoven by a reaching solo and then Bach\u2019s pensive groan of \u201cI want to keep you, shut the door, throw away the key… for you belong to me\u201d<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Again, the mood is dark, the only predictability being that once again we\u2019re treated to another climbing pre-chorus and peak before returning to the shadowy. If anything, this has more in common with King Diamond\u2019s brand of blackness than anything tepidly metallic.<\/p>\n

Only halfway in, and I\u2019m salivating at another masterpiece from one of metal\u2019s most underrated performers \u2013 a man whose vocal range can strip the paint from the ceiling and whose stage presence is enough to cast long, suffocating shadows across the audience. The presence comes to the fore time and time again on this record; \u2018Dominator\u2019 batters, \u2018Had Enough\u2019 shines like a beacon and \u2018Gun To A Knife Fight\u2019 decimates. The cover of April Wine\u2019s \u2018Rock N Roll Is A Vicious Game\u2019 offers the unexpected, meanwhile \u2013 a sleazy ballad strewn with harmonica and reflective hair metal abandonment. <\/p>\n

The album is then seen off with a trio of tracks which should concrete Bach\u2019s place in metal history. \u2018Taking Back Tomorrow\u2019 pummels without apology, and it is here that Duff McKagan\u2019s bass comes to the fore. And there was you guys thinking I wasn\u2019t going to name the former Guns \u2019N Roses man! His performance here is tireless, cementing his place among the top bassists of the genre and adding a dose of not just quality but attitude to the Bach attack.<\/p>\n

\u2018Disengaged\u2019 buzzes the ears like a monstrous fly; the drums kick the temple hard and again the bass rages with consummate ease. \u2018Forget You\u2019 brings the album to a close, which is another cool and brooding leviathan of a number that is riddled with enough subtle quirks to enable it to marry melody and weight. <\/p>\n

With John 5 (Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson<\/a>) and legendary guitarist Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Vince Neil, Michael Jackson) also adding their talents to this cauldron, it\u2019s only right once again that I give a rating to reflect the sheer power of Bach\u2019s latest juggernaut. Arguably more melodic than Kicking & Screaming<\/em>, Give \u2019Em Hell<\/em> still confirms what I\u2019ve always knew, that Sebastian Bach is one leather-clad, mane-haired throat who deserves to be hell\u2019s latest hero.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEBASTIAN BACHGive \u2019Em Hell Frontiers (2014)Rating: 9.5\/10 When I grew up as a teenager in the 1980s, I never expected my heavy metal heroes Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne to eventually become household names taking on cartoonish facades. Over time I would lose interest in these rock giants, despite the fact their music evolved through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[393],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sebastian-bach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18329"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18344,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18329\/revisions\/18344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}