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Addicted to Metal marks the second full-length by the band formerly called Blues Kids. Kissin' Dynamite's follow-up full-length release features some very impressive traditional Heavy Metal songs and anthems that will make any true metal fan wet his pants with joy over the eleven Heavy Metal tracks on this release, and the one Hard Rock cover track kind of turned metal. So, you may be asking, what could possibly be wrong with this release? Believe it or not, there's a few hang ups to be had with Addicted to Metal. While the album is practically everything that a metal fan can ultimately enjoy, as well as what made this style so widely popular in the first place, this album is also not really that original a release, much like this band's debut album. Addicted to Metal starts off nice enough with the addicting title track, "Addicted to Metal", and features a great vocal performance by Udo Dirkschneider of U.D.O. fame. This anthem based track sets up the album perfectly with it's metal-worshipping lyrics and somewhat Manowar-based musical composition. This track, as well as the following "Run for Your Life" and "Supersonic Killer" are phenomenal tracks that will stay lodged in your head, especially "Run for Your Life" with it's infectious chorus and somewhat slower melodic pace. Essentially, almost all of this record is set up this way, with the occassional curve ball thrown in, which leads to the next problem. While this album is far from an original album, it doesn't do it's self much justice with how repetitive the songs get. The best way to explain some of the tracks on here would be to explain it as a long running band's most famous, catchy tracks that compose their live set. Because of this, many songs have the same feel to them, as well as composition, such as "Supersonic Killer" is very reminiscent of "Love Me Hate Me". But, not every song on here follows this rule, such as "In the Name of the Iron Fist" but mostly for the chorus, as well as "Hysteria", which is a great break from the slower paced party-atmosphere tracks of metal worship or general metal topics by introducing a bit of an Edguy feel to the track, just minus the very impressive vocal performance of that band. However, aside for the moment where the music stops and the vocals are low in the background and sound like an old man is singing the chorus, the track is an exceptional piece of Metal well in the abilities of the group. Aside that, the only other track to really push forth a vocal effort that doesn't sound like everything else on this album would be the Damn Yankees cover song "High Enough", which is a nice little Hard Rock piece thrown in that takes on the roll of a Heavy Metal anthem. While it's not quite as enjoyable as the original, it's definitely a more gutsy rendition. This band is also one that you need to take a few listens to become a little accustomed to the vocal styles of. While they aren't bad or anything, it's just that they are typically of the same higher pitch, and sometimes has a bit of a rhasp that just sounds robotic, such as during "In the Name of the Iron Fist". This track also breaks the somewhat repetitive song structure and incorporates some higher falsetto vocals during the chorus that work great, but for the first few listens you'll more then likely just tread through softly with this album, as the vocals can sometimes become rather monotonous and, if you're not paying attention, can also just sound like the vocalist is pretty much doing the same thing over and over as far as how he performs. However, like in "In the Name of the Iron Fist", there are a good amount of tracks on this release that actually show off his rather wide vocal range, but also leave you wishing he would explore his range moreso then he has. Addicted to Metal is a solid album that really doesn't have any faults. The only things that could really have been worked on was a little more diversity, and perhaps some better inspiring guitar solos, such as the one during "We Want More". Each track on here really is catchy, or just well composed and performed, with the only exception being "Why Can't You Hear Me", which is an alright song but kind of feels like it's a filler track overall. Outside that, the album does wind up getting a little tedious after a while, leaving you wondering if two, maybe three songs could have been cut and left for another CD in the future to make this effort end on a higher note instead of one based in being worn out at the end of the release. Either way, even with it's faults, they don't hold the album back too much, and Addicted to metal winds up being a great album that deserves your attention. |
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