By Owen Coulter (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: February 26, 2014
One thing is for sure: Adrenaline Mob will never be mistaken for a band that has poetically inspired lyrics. Theirs are bombastic, provocative, diverse in vocal style, and backed with a high-octane guitar. The heavy metal super group, consisting of singer Russell Allen (Symphony X), Mike Orlando (Black Label Society), John Moyer (Disturbed), and A.J. Pero (Twisted Sister), provide a dose of no-holds-barred, in-your-face, straight-up heavy metal on their sophomore album Men of Honor.
Men of Honor will appeal to the masses; it’s catchy, speaker-blowing loud, and the quartet is comfortable in its own skin with opener “The Mob Is Back,” exuding confidence: “We came to throw down / the Mob’s back in town.” There is ferocious drumming, courtesy of A.J. Pero who does a commendable job filling the hole left by Mike Portnoy’s departure. Stylistically there are some differences, but drumming is not a weak link.
“Come On Get Up” features a wicked guitar solo stylistically influenced by Tom Morello, which strengthens the song. “Dearly Departed” is a throwback to the Mob’s first album Omerta. “Let It Go” has an interesting guitar riff, and actually has some poignant lyrics, though the album is not so much about subtext as it is about being in your face. The album ends with “Fallin’ to Pieces,” a favourite because it sounds unique — a cut above the songwriting on the rest of the album.
The rest is mixed, like in “The Mob is Back.” It’s catchy, but sounds like a mix of Nickelback’s “Burn it to the Ground” and Theory of a Deadman’s “Bad Girlfriend.” This quartet is supposed to be a super group, not a post-grunge, drop-D, radio-friendly band.
While I commend them for attempting to add a different feel to the album with “Behind These Eyes,” and “Crystal Clear,” these songs are other weak links. The former is because of predictable lyrics about lost love that have a Bon Jovi feeling, and an ‘80s power ballad that falls short. Bon Jovi and Poison were good at what they did, but when Allen attempts to channel his inner Bret Michaels it doesn’t work with Adrenaline Mob’s overall sound.
What is Adrenaline Mob trying to achieve with this album? Lyrics about lost love share space with tracks like “Feel the Adrenaline,” a no-boundaries, guitar-shredding metal tune that is supposedly the essence of the band. “Crystal Clear” is forgettable: an acoustic guitar that has no build-up, a song without a bridge. The repeated chorus gets tedious enough to press skip.
A wave of new hard rock and metal is growing. While Adrenaline Mob may be leading the way with heavy performance, the creativity box is surely not checked.
