Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Appice
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2017
Running time: 65:11
Rating: 3/5
The legendary drummers and brothers Carmine and Vinny Appice have left a deep mark on the rock map with their long, nonstop careers, and between the two of them they’ve played with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, King Kobra and Rick Derringer. Those are only some of the names, but their weight is more than enough to make it no secret how highly regarded both drum masters are (and how in-demand they once were).
Carmine and Vinny finally joined forces. They started touring together, and the spectacle of their shows, plus the reputation behind the names, meant demand for their gigs just kept growing. In 2014 they put out a joint live document, »Drum Wars… Live!« (2014), and material also began taking shape for a proper studio album, a studio debut.
Considering that both brothers’ names are legendary on the hard rock and metal map, it wasn’t hard for them to attract a bunch of top-notch musicians, who jumped on board for the making of »Sinister«, which came out last November.
So what’s interesting, or most appealing, about this album? Actually the composing and arranging principle, which steers a little away from the classic hard rock product you’d expect here. It puts the drumwork in the focal point. Equally, and with the expressive focus on the drums, of course. First off, the production. The two drummers are split between the left and right speakers, and it’s easy to pick out the difference in their techniques. The difference between Vinny’s somewhat punchier, more direct and occasionally rougher approach (the double-bass »Cozy Powelll style« thunder is not missing), and Carmine’s slightly more sophisticated, let’s call it blues-leaning approach. The apple clearly doesn’t fall far from the tree, and the brothers’ temperaments are similar behind the kit too. Both drummers are extremely »physical«, and both learned from John Bonham. No debate there. So even the mid-eight sections of the songs can be subordinated to showing off both brothers’ drumming chops, which you catch right away in the album’s opening title track. A »close relative« of the Appice brothers in drumming technique would be Bobby Rondinelli and, of course, the late Cozy Powell.
If the first track was a bit of a surprise with its distinctly gloomy and unmelodic chorus, the very next one, Monsters And Heroes, is a real »homage« to Ronnie James Dio, which sets expectations for the contents of this release in the right place. The flirting with the vocal melodies of the legendary Dio comes back a little later in Danger. The picture is filled out by Killing Floor, which pulls toward Black Sabbath in the era with Tony Martin on vocals (Future Past joins that feeling later on), and the musical shapes of the vocal melodies are occasionally related to elements of Led Zeppelin as well, which you can sometimes catch in the phrasing itself. All of this slowly seeps through the album »Sinsiter« in bigger and smaller shades. The song Rot is again something that pulls toward the »Dio era« of Black Sabbath (the »Mob Rules« album) in its composition structure and vocal melodies. The song Drum Wars, where the interplay of both brothers’ drumming techniques shines, effectively livens up the album’s dynamic flow. It’s an instrumental studio jam between buddies.
Of course, not all the songs reach the same strong level of expression. That simply means there are too many of them on the album. Even the opening Sinister is totally dispensable, since the weird line in the chorus melody is a bit off-putting. That’s deliberate, coming from the message of the song itself, but it »grates«. The outro of Suddenly grates just as much, where a new drumming excursion by both brothers chops up the vocal line, which would’ve been totally fine if the song hadn’t slid into pretentiousness, since there’s also a completely chaotic guitar solo of wild note-spraying thrown in, which wrecks the otherwise solid format of the song. A track that’s at least a minute too long. Luckily, the next one, the much more peaceful and soulful In the Night, in rock terms, relieves this nagging point.
With the album so richly stocked with heavy, tricky drumming wizardry of hurled sticks and swings, you can’t overlook the signature soloing of the guest guitarists, who add an extra dose of classic hard rock aesthetics to the substance of this release, even though you can feel that, in terms of focus in the arranging of the guitar parts, quite a bit of room was left on the table. This is an album that’s simply somewhat subordinate to drummer logic.
There are too many tracks on the album. Ten would have been enough, and especially toward the end the whole thing starts to drag and the album starts to lose its compass (Sabbath Mesh is absolutely one move too many). Otherwise it’s a solid album that fans of classic hard rock and classic hard rock bands probably already have at home, but it doesn’t send any earthquake tremors. It’s a comfortable, tried-and-true, safe album. Carmine and Vinny stocked up with a seasoned crew of top musicians, and with their vision and the unsuspected talents of the chosen guard, a solid album like this simply couldn’t fail to happen. But it appeals first and foremost to nostalgia and doesn’t reinvent the wheel or discover a new Einstein. A sly album, then.
Lineup
Carmine Appice (drums, vocals)
Vinny Appice (drums)
Jim Crean (vocals)
Paul Shortino (vocals, Rough Cutt, ex-Quiet Riot)
Robin McAuley (vocals, MSG, ex-Survivor)
Chas West (vocals, ex-Lynch Mob)
Scotty Bruce (vocals)
Craig Goldy (guitar, ex-DIO, ex-Giuffria)
Bumblefoot (guitar, ex-Guns N’ Roses)
Joel Hoekstra (guitar, Whitesnake, ex-Night Ranger)
Mike Sweda (guitar, Bulletboys)
Erik Turner (guitar, Warrant)
David Michael Phillips (guitar, King Kobra)
Tony Franklin (bass, ex-Blue Murder, ex-The Firm)
Phil Soussan (bass, ex-Ozzy Osbourne)
Johnny Rod (bass, King Kobra, ex-W.A.S.P.)
Jorgen Carlson (bass, (Gov’t Mule)
Production
Jorgen Carlson
Track list
1. Sinister
02. Monsters And Heroes
03. Killing Floor
04. Danger
05. Drum Wars
06. Riot
07. Suddenly
08. In The Night
09. Future Past
10. You Got Me Running
11. Bros In Drums
12. War Cry
13. Sabbath Mash
14. Outro
