I was very interested to see where Dave ended up after his ousting from the Megadeth dictatorship. Would he form a band or would he do a succession of projects? I was very surprised when he teamed up with JSS, as they don’t seem to operate in the same universe. I have to say this is a very pleasant surprise!
Operating in the world between metal and hard rock, this is one great record. I mean, Jeff doesn’t do bad records but Dave is a but of an unknown as he hasn’t done a whole bunch other than Megadeth. The duo are joined by (unknown to me) guitar whizz Andy Martongelli who is a beast on the plank, and on the pots and pans is Paulo Caridi.
The album opens up with the power metal blast of the title track. Killer tune and a false flag in terms of the albums direction. Like A Bullet is my favourite tune. A full on hard rock beast with an epic riff and groove and Jeff giving plenty with a huge hook and chorus. Sharpen The Sword is a killer metal blast with double kicks and heavy grooves a plenty. The Reason breaks new ground as this is heavy AOR. Take the vocal alone and this is what Jeff has been doing all his life. Killer melodic vocals with epic melody lines. S.T.N is punk gone metal with 1234 groove and blast.
Side 2 kicks off with The Revolution and musically, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was Iron Maiden complete with gallop. Celebrity Trash kicks in with a full on glam style riff and groove and it’s cool to hear Jeff wrap his vocal around a groove like this, although I’m sure there’s a Talisman tune that’s like this out there. Live To Die Another Day is possibly the heaviest tune on the album and is the only one with a hint of Megadeth about it. The Day Before Tomorrow is the power ballad on the album and the solo is something else, Jeff is joined on vocals here by Jade Etro. We end with an awesome intro to Hercules/Rise To Win with plenty of killer bass and epic guitar.
So, that’s it! A very pleasant surprise of an album and I hope they do more.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
