THE QUANTUM PHASE The End Machine (Frontiers) *****
Hard-charging riff heavy magic here from this metal super-group. The Quantum Phase is catchy as hell, and it’s too bad this is only March… I want to hit the highway on a hot, sunny day with this blasting out the windows. Listen up kids, hard rock just got VERY exciting.
I first put this on while posting last week’s column and thought “Jeez, this reminds me of Girish & The Chronicles”, a great metal group from India. It should have come as no surprise, then, to find out Girish Pradhan (one of the best vocalists out there) is now the voice of The End Machine, replacing Robert Mason who sang on the band’s first two records. No doubt you’re familiar with the guitar work of George Lynch thru Dokken and Lynch Mob, and bassist Jeff Pilson played for Foreigner amongst others. The press info also mentions Steve Brown who, I assume, is the drummer. Together as The End Machine they make a mighty, heaving noise.
Considering where each of these guys have come from it’s reasonable to expect the sparks to fly on The Quantum Phase and boy howdy do they. George Lynch is a great guitar player and having someone like Pradhan to bounce off of raises his considerable game even higher, with Pilson and Brown laying down that bottom end nice and thick. No quirky time signatures or oddball left turns on this puppy- just straight ahead, driving rock & roll with a bluesy edge that would do AC/DC proud, what I call “4-on-the-floor rock & roll”. Produced by Jeff Pilson and recorded by him and Girish Pradhan with additional engineering by Olivia Pilson, this album should be offered up in courses for recording engineers on how this kind of music should sound.
The Quantum Phase sports perfectly crafted songs and stellar musicianship, what the press info refers to as “the album they always wished they’d written”. That sounds like Frontiers is huffing and puffing to blow smoke up our bums- that’s what PR usually does- but in this case, after giving the disc a couple spins, there seems little doubt that this is the case. I can’t think of an album by any of the groups the band members belonged to previously that can match this. Super groups miss more often that they hit in my experience, but here the sum is clearly more than the individual parts. With The Quantum Phase The End Machine has just gifted us with real tire squealing, fire breathing rock & roll. This isn’t just good, it’s GREAT.
https://www.facebook.com/TheEndMachine
HOT TRACKS: Black Hole Extinction, Shattered Glass Heart, Hell Or High Water
MECHANICS OF PREDACITY Lords Of Black (Frontiers) **** +
MECHANICS OF PREDACITY This is the sixth album for Lords Of Black, and it’s a scorcher. Mechanics Of Predacity examines humanity’s predatory nature; as a line in one of the songs says, the weak ones seem to be just the meat for the strong ones to eat. The record fearlessly addresses the harsh reality that greed, power and malevolence are the overriding trains of thought that run the world and power the conflicts that we see in places like Palestine and Ukraine, and the music here is suitably hard and aggressive… given the subject matter, how could it NOT be?
As well as being ultra-heavy, worthy of Judas Priest’s recent output. Mechanics Of Predacity is epic grandeur in motion with dazzling musicianship. The group is, of course, Chilean singer Ronnie Romero (Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Vandenberg, The Michael Schenker Group, Elegant Weapons), guitarist Tony Hernando, bassist Dani Criado and drummer Jo Nunez. It’s tempting to consider this a concept album, and though the songs are linked by a commonality of subject matter I don’t detect a narrative or cast of characters that one would expect, like the Starman in Rush’s 2112. Taken on a song by song basis, this disc is compelling.
Guitarist Hernando describes the opening song For What Is Owed Us as “a cool, fast, full-on metal song (with) lyrics that delve into themes of retribution and standing for truth”, and the album in general examines our species from the earliest days of our humble animal existence to the complex dynamics of modern society and the relentless nature of our predatory instincts. So yeah, this is about as far from your average tits n ass rock & roll as you can get, yet there’s plenty going on here to inspire a generation of air guitar players; chunky rhythms that carry Ronnie Romero’s impassioned vocals on its muscular shoulders.
As the press info correctly notes, “Mechanics Of Perdacity transcends being a mere album, it stands as a lyrical and musical expedition into the very essence of human existence. The tension between predator and prey serves as both a lament and a call for redemption.” Lofty lyrical considerations aside, you can also enjoy this album on a purely musical level- HELL yeah.
HOT TRACKS: For What Is Owed Us, Obsession Of The Mind, A World Departed
DREAM JOB Jeff Rogers (Diesel Entertainment) *****
DREAM JOB I love all kinds of music. Nothing really floats my boat quite like good storytelling songs, and that’s the case with Jeff Rogers’ new solo album Dream Job as vocal comparisons to Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Otis Redding are entirely justified. Great songs and one of the most soulful singers you’ll ever encounter- that’s Jeff Rogers.
Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick and raised in Ottawa, Jeff’s musical talent showed itself early on and his parents were very encouraging. They first provided him with piano and music lessons and since then he’s taken up sax and guitar and developed that wonderful voice to go with his piano playing. He’s an in demand session guy, and has also been a member of Canada’s premiere country/ rock band The Cooper Brothers for over a decade. So he’s got the credentials and the talent to pull off one of the most satisfying discs of the year so far. It seems fair to call this country/rock by why quibble over labels? Just put it on and enjoy.
Dream Job was co-produced by Jeff and his bandmate Dick Cooper with a rich, full sound. The album was recorded at Muscle Shoals, and some of that studio’s legendary magic dust has definitely rubbed off on these 9 cuts. “Muscle Shoals was groovy- the mojo of the place is undeniable” Rogers notes on his website. “It’s a privilege to get to make music with (those) veteran musicians… class acts who just walk in and do what they do like it’s no big deal. Very inspiring.” Those musicians, by the way, include Kelvin Holly (Little Richard, Bobby Bland), Clayton Ivey (The Staple Sisters, Thelma Houston), Justin Holder (Keb’ Mo’, Delbert McClinton) and Shonna Tucker (Booker T. & The MG’s, Drive By Truckers).
What this all boils down to is that Dream Job is a collection good stories, impeccably played and produced as just about anything you’ll ever hear. To sum up this record in a single word I’d say ‘groovy’. It just doesn’t get any cooler or more satisfying than this.
HOT TRACKS: Her Kind Of Trouble, Mind Of Your Own (with Colin Linden), Saving This Bottle of Wine
KELL’S KITCHEN Shawn Kellerman (Songsurfer Records) *****
KELL’S KITCHEN Hang on to your hat- like the old Maxell Cassette TV ads, Shawn Kellerman’s new solo album is likely to blow you right out of your chair. Kell’s Kitchen is a robust blues/rock adventure powered by righteous riffs and spine tingling guitar solos. And that’s just for starters.
Kellerman has some serious roadwork under his belt that has turned him into the guitar assassin he is now. Growing up in Kitchener, Ontario his dad ran the famous Pop The Gator club and thru that connection he was taken under the wing of guitarist Mel Brown. In the late 90’s Shawn moved to Mississippi where he played with Bobby Rush. He was then asked to join Lucky Peterson’s band, which boosted his already busy schedule to 200 gigs a year. “I spent 8 years touring, recording and co-producing records with Lucky Peterson before he passed away” Shawn says, “and I wanted Kell’s Kitchen to reflect his work ethic and how he approached a song.”
Some fine special guests helped elevate a good record to a great one. His former employer Bobby Rush shows up on We Are Blues Men and you’ll also hear harmonica great Jason Ricci on 3 tracks. Other contributors include the late keyboard maestro Peterson and powerhouse singer Meghan Parnell of Bywater Call. Kell’s Kitchen is 14 tracks in all, including a cover of Little Milton’s Livin’ Off The Love You Give and a version of The Guess Who’s Runnin’ Back To Saskatoon with some hair on its chest that comes close to but doesn’t eclipse the original.
The many different flavors throughout this disc, from real he-man blues to funk to rock make Kell’s Kitchen a rather intense experience. You can tell with every note played by Kellerman as well as everyone else that they mean business. Shawn Kellerman has the experience and understanding that the blues can be interpreted in countless ways. He notes that “the blues will always be at the core, but mixing in other sounds- whether from Europe or Africa or the U.S.-will hopefully lead to something original.” Kell’s Kitchen is an earthquake of an album.
HOT TRACKS: SKB, Hard Man to Please, Jig Jiggity (instrumental)
