Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Red Dragon Cartel
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2014
Running time: 44:42
Rating: 3/5
Would anyone have dared to think that Jake E. Lee, the renowned former first guitarist of Ozzy Osbourne who wrote himself into rock and metal history on the Prince of Darkness’s infamous albums »Bark At The Moon« (1983) and »The Ultimate Sin« (1986), would ever return from musical exile? Those were the days…
Big credit for bringing Jake E. Lee back onto the metal map goes to Ronnie Mancuso, a guy known for his work with melodic rockers Beggars And Thieves, and to Kevin Churko, a heavyweight name among producers. Between them, they nudged Lee with enough encouragement that he finally decided to dust off some ideas and long-forgotten guitar phrases, which, after long, long years, have finally seen the light of day on the album »Red Dragon Cartel«.
In the singer’s seat, Jake E. Lee has planted Canadian Darren James Smith, otherwise the drummer of the famous Canadian AOR/melodic rock champions Harem Scarem, who stopped by Trieste for a show at the end of last year. Smith has a powerful, authoritative voice that cuts straight through Lee’s resolute guitar phrases. He sounds focused, and in the way he forges the lead melodies in the verses he draws quite a few parallels with Ozzy Osbourne’s vocal delivery.
The album »Red Dragon Cartel« is an interesting cross between classic and modern. Classic because of some riffs that honestly sound like a recap of Jake E. Lee’s work with Ozzy Osbourne, while the »Sabbath-like« War Machine makes no secret of its tribute to His Excellency and the ultimate lord of the guitar phrase in our galaxy, Tony Iommi. The opening Decieved is basically a »refreshed« version of Ozzy’s Bark At The Moon for 2014, thanks to the lead guitar phrase, and when vocalist D.J. Smith enters the pre-chorus, his vocal lines start suspiciously leaning toward Ozzy’s. The song works great, since the chorus tops it off with a crescendo of glam »party time« energy. Feeder is the third track in a row. Yet another typical »Ozzy-like« riff, and keep an ear out for the venomous bass line that literally slices through concrete with its rattle. The one singing over it is the one and only Robin Zander (Cheap Trick). After a hugely promising opening phrase and verse, the song »falls apart« with the less successful solutions of a »tiring« chorus (thanks to semitone moves that strip out the melodic component). A shame, because it leaves the chameleon-like Zander only half used.
The album carries a few extremely interesting songs, but there are definitely weak spots to be found as well. One of the main ones is an exaggerated urge to recap that Ozzy-era sentiment, even though a few phrases do remind you that they’re almost 30 years old and that this debut simply couldn’t be much different. A weak spot on the album is, for instance, Wasted with Paul Di’Anno on vocals. It never manages to build a shift in mood from verse to chorus, thanks to a »musty« riff that goes nowhere, as well as Di’Anno’s clipped »barking« throughout the song (it’s incredible to realize how much Paul’s voice has dropped over the years). Maybe Jake should have just offered the song to D.J. Smith to sing. He’d have gotten more out of it! Likewise, we can write off the closing instrumental Exquisite Tenderness as a running-time »filler«.
The tracks with guest female vocalists fare much better. Especially the »Manson-esque Big Mouth, where perfectly »growlingly creaky« guitar minimalism finds a great home in Maria Brink’s (In This Moment) relived and sensual vocal. A fantastic vocal performance of devoted derailment, bordering on a vocal excess of scandalous thoughts of pure perversion. She approaches it as authentically as she can. We could almost call it a real little temptation, a female version of Marilyn Manson’s well-known »sweet wickedness«. Redeem does very well too, where the soul hairdo of Sarah »Sass« Jordan’s excellent vocal performance anchors itself in the metallic heaviness. The Canadian singer and actress brings elements of blues with her dominant voice, so Redeem is definitely this album’s curiosity. A welcome curiosity, since it effectively shakes up the flow of the album!
The album is saved by excellent, modern production. The sound is lively and smeared, and through Lee’s phrases the album creates feelings of untamed wildness, wickedness, cunning, gloom and the occult. All the things Jake handled so comfortably in the lessons he learned from his former employer Ozzy. These elements are extremely welcome in the musical character that the album »Red Dragon Cartel« cultivates, which at its core is of course classic heavy metal. Slave and the opening Decieved, alongside the phenomenally »nailed« Big Mouth, count as the album’s highlights in this respect.
A very solid debut worth every bit of a listen, proving that Jake E. Lee’s reactivation is an extraordinary gain for the metal universe. Let’s hope a new studio sequel follows. Some insightful riffs and the specific style of their creation, like the typical soloing, are proof that Red Dragon Cartel is a special musical adventure, its development dictated by the unique mind of Jake E. Lee. The man keeps his magic guitar grip and touch. All fans of guitar playing and Jake Lee’s riffs must check out »Red Dragon Cartel«, as well as both of Ozzy’s albums that Jake recorded with him, and where there’s the name Ozzy, Black Label Society are always close by, of course. Anyway. A razor-sharp metal album of juicy collisions of classic arrangements, soaked in the cunning of a fatly heavy, new-era production.
Line-up
D.J Smith – vocals
Jake E. Lee – guitar
Ronnie Mancuso – bass
Jonas Fairley – drums
Production
R. Bernard Mann (AKA Ronnie Mancuso & Jake E. Lee)
Track list
1. Deceived
2. Shout It Out
3. Feeder (featuring Robin Zander)
4. Fall From The Sky (Seagull)
5. Wasted (featuring Paul Di’Anno)
6. Slave
7. Big Mouth (featuring Maria Brink)
8. War Machine
9. Redeem Me (featuring Sass Jordan)
10. Exquisite Tenderness
