Sunday, July 22, 2012

DUBLIN DEATH PATROL: "Death Sentence"

Rating: RRR
Label: Mascot 2012
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

They sure had us worried for a while but Dublin Death Patrol is an old skool Thrash/Speed metal group in the eighties tradition and not a Celtic folk-rock pub act. There's no 'Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling' among these tracks and instead you'll find good old morbid metal titles such as 'Blood Sirens', 'Welcome To Hell', 'Death Toll Rising' and 'Butcher Baby'.

It's in fact the sophomore release from the Dublin/USA band fronted by Chuck Billy of Testament and Steve "Zetro" Souza of Exodus fame. Add to this Willy Lange of Laaz Rockit and Rampage, plus a bunch of other former Rampage and Tesla members and you're in for a small treat. Indeed, merely a couple of seconds of the opening, "Mind Sewn Shut", with its eighties Slayer-like riffing, and you know exactly what to expect from the "Death Sentence". Nothing groundbreaking or out of the ordinary eighties Thrash but a headbanging record that reeks of nostalgia and long gone daze/days.

It's especially fun to listen to the clash of titans aka vocal duals throughout the record. Souza's snarling voice and Billy's touch of death is the perfect match in heaven... ehh, hell. Musically combining crunchy guitar riffs, energetic rhythmic structures and clichĂ© like arrangements of the past, the result at times takes on a very familiar formula and sound. This also being both the strength and weakness of the band. It's bits and pieces of Testament, Slayer, Vio-lence, Exodus, and you can't help headbanging along to the melodies with a strange feeling of deja vĂș.
www.dublindeathpatrol.com

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