Evil Lives – A ‘True Metal Tribute to Black Sabbath’
Author: Aidan Gray
A complete ‘metal’ anthology dedicated to the band that started it all for us: Black Sabbath. Spanning the band’s 30+ year career, these 13 artists have come together for a Cleopatra Records tribute. No rap, no crap, no nu, no ‘core’ basically sums the disc up. Well known artists that appear include Iced Earth, Jag Panzer, Primal Fear, Agent Steel and more. The bands that lended their services to laying down a tribute track are all more than able musicians, and Primal Fear’s ‘Die Young’ and Racer-X’s ‘Children of the Grave’ covers are a certain affirmation of this. The top tune on the entire disc would have to be Vince Neil and George Lynch’s rendition of ‘Paranoid’ which provides a healthy dosage of everything that is metal, adding small tweaks onto the solo, and extra vocal accentuations that truly give the duo’s take on the song an added edge.
Although, this disc could really have enlisted the services of some better artists. Icarus Witch’s version of ‘Falling Off the Edge of the World’, Forever Say Die!’s ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’, and Jag Panzer’s ‘Children of the Sea’ overall are just sub-par. Instead of this being a ‘True Metal Tribute to Black Sabbath’ – it should be a ‘Power Metal Tribute to Black Sabbath’. Long gone are the days of Pantera’s ‘Planet Caravan’ and ‘Hole in the Sky’. If a disc is going to be comprised of vocalists who wail, how about bringing Rob Halford on deck to belt out some tunes? Overall, an unimpressive tribute to those who started this influential genre, if it’s set to be a ‘True Metal Tribute’, get those artists who really carried the genre through the 80’s, 90’s, and today to lend their pipes and musicianship – Not some washed up Euro bands that comprise over 50% of the CD.
Top Tunes:
Vince Neil/George Lynch’s – ‘Paranoid’
Agent Steel – ‘Hole in the Sky’
Primal Fear – ‘Die Young’
Worst Tunes:
Read above.
(No Ratings Yet)
