aaamusic | On 20, Jul 2013

Taking riff cues from UK metal and thrash, and production and vocal aesthetics from US metal, Newsted’s latest offering is something that, really, I am not sure what to make of. On the one hand, the soundscapes of thick Sabbath tone and slowed-down NWOBHM gallops prowling alongside a punchy, if a bit too “planck”-y sounding bass are always an alluring way to start a track. Yet the drums sound hollow and plastic, and the vocals are monotonous and strained. Which, quite frankly, is how I would describe most of the song. Riff-wise, there’s little being done that even Motörhead’s punk era didn’t do better and in a far catchier manner, and the whole thing drags out over four minutes, careening from gallop to groove to a flickering squib of a lead guitar solo done using a treble-drenched and far too loud tone that sounds like it was tacked on. The groove section too is rather abortive – it sounds nice enough and is played well, yes, but the whole affair is pretty poorly structured, and so it drifts as one island among many. Yes, the musicianship is tight and technically really very good. But it isn’t particularly heavy, catchy, technical, or even that memorable. The same can be said for the video: a tedious lump of the band playing to Steadicams in a way that stopped being edgy before I was born. So essentially this song a lack of ideas, even if it initially appears well-executed.

★★★★★

Katie H-Halinski