The name Art of Anarchy is very similar in name to Sons Of Apollo. I guess Mr. Soto and Mr. Bumblefoot wanted to carry on with that Prog metal groove with this new project, seeing as MP is back in DT.
We have a very heavy and pounding opening with Die Hard. Double kicks speeding away with some very tasty drop tuned riffage, courtesy of Bumblefoot and one John Votta, whose brother, Vince is providing the pound, and of course Jeff is singing his ass off. It is very reminiscent of SOP. That heavy pounding groove continues with the intro to Echo Your Madness. It has a very catchy riff, melody line, and hook from Jeff. Vilified is a power ballad and we all know how powerful Jeff is at singing these type of songs.
Bridge Of Tomorrow is all about the vocal. Starting with a cool acoustic groove and adding in the power as the song proceeds, letting the vocal sit over the top. Cool song! The Side 1 close out tune Writing In The Wall is a heavy slow brooder with Jeff adding the cherry on the top again with a superb hook and melody.
Rivals opens up Side 2 with a very eerie opening, leading into a very cool riff. If I am being honest here, this feels like a JSS solo album as every song is centred around the vocal. Sure, the band is hot and killer and the riffs fly, but it does feel like that. Blind Mans Victory is basically a very cool AOR song with huge riffs and beats at peak moments. The middle and ending is a supremely heavy addition to make it feel like a different song.
I think Dying Days is my favourite, with a very heavy low down riff and that huge hook and chorus. The Good The Bad And The Insane starts just like the western movie with a similar name, before the heavy kicks in. The album ends with Disarray and a vibe very similar to Train Of Thought era DT.
My only gripe with the album is not a fault of the music but the pressing itself is soooo quiet, I’m having to crank the amp. I hope they carry on, I like this album a lot.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
