Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Lynch Mob
Label: Rat Pak Records
Release: 2014
Running time: 55:30
Rating: 4.5/5
Five years have passed since Lynch Mob’s last studio album, »Smoke And Mirrors«. With it, band leader George Lynch, one of the best rock guitarists on the planet, confirmed that Lynch Mob were back in a big way, and the group’s first two studio albums finally got a credible studio sibling worthy of their whole artistic legacy.
Lynch Mob haven’t been sitting on their hands these past five years. In August 2012 they put out a four-song EP, »Sound Mountain Sessions«, which we’ll get to in a moment, followed by the acoustic live EP »Unplugged: Live From Sugarhill Studios« (2013). Through all of this, two names have stayed firmly and inseparably linked, even though personality clashes have driven them apart more than once over the course of their careers. George Lynch knows he won’t find a better singer than Oni Logan to fully realize his ideas and musical vision. So we’ve ended up with yet another EP in a row, this one with six new songs, a cover and the fully remastered »Sound Mountain Sessions« EP. Why Lynch didn’t just keep writing toward a new studio album and instead put out one more EP first is something only he knows.
The EP is inseparably tied to Lynch’s great friend Ray Gillen, to whom it’s also dedicated. Gilen, among other things a former Black Sabbath vocalist, died tragically of AIDS in 1993. Sticking just to the EP’s title: Gillen’s former band Badlands (where Ozzy’s former guitarist Jake E. Lee also played guitar for a time) recorded a song with that title in 1992-93 for the album »Dusk« (1998), and right before his death Gillen also formed a group called Sun Red Sun, which featured drummer Bobby Rondinelli, bassist Mike Star and guitarist Al B. Romano. Anyone who knows Lynch’s solo album »Sacred Groove« will tell you that the lead vocals on the song Flesh And Blood are none other than Ray Gilllen.
The content of this EP works as a sensible companion piece to the album »Smoke And Mirrors«, so including the four songs from the EP »Sound Mountain Sessions« is entirely the right call. The “Sun Red Sun” EP shows that George Lynch keeps growing into a strong composer and arranger. Lynch continues to experiment with his sound, blending the expanses typical of dark rock with hard rock, like on the opener Believers of the Day, which some band like The Cult would happily adopt, and there’s plenty on the album that pulls toward the Led Zeppelin legacy, something Logan’s vocal contrast underlines effectively. Lynch has always been known for his exceptional feel for musicality, and the EP doesn’t disappoint on that front either, with the infectious, instantly memorable chorus of Subliminal Dream, while Play the Game keeps up a superb »funky groove«. There’s also Erotika, which is distinctly dark, catchy and backed by tribal rhythms. Black Waters is a Lynch instrumental where the master once again shows off his unique command of the six-string bible, while the cover of Bad Company’s Burnin’ Sky doesn’t stray much from the original in its arrangement. The EP closes with the fascinating, acoustically adorned ballad Sun Red Sun, where the soulful sensitivity of Logan’s vocals gives the song a special charm. Logan complements Lynch’s vision of laying down guitar phrases within the compositions perfectly. This duo is definitely one you can stamp with an unblemished label of one-of-a-kind, perfect chemistry. Logan is outstanding in his emotional intensity, and with his trademark passionate explosiveness, occasionally dressed up with a sophisticated bluesy flourish, he fascinatingly builds on the erotogenic reach of Lynch’s guitar exposé.
»Sun Red Sun« is a vivid EP with excellent, thick, fat and lively production, where the atmosphere is often psychedelically dark and hard rock-minded. For this EP Lynch has come up with a set of colorful, dynamic lead guitar phrases and decorated them with the brilliance of his unmistakable playing, while Oni Logan’s expressively powerful vocals breathe much-needed color into them. Let’s hope the EP is followed by a new studio album next year, because it would be a huge shame if George Lynch didn’t pour into one all the big, current inspiration of the seductively effective chemistry of the Logan-Lynch pairing.
Line-up
Oni Logan – vocals
George Lynch – guitar
Robbie Crane – bass
Scott Coogan – drums
Production
Lynch Mob & Chris “The Wizard” Collier
Track list
1. Believers of the Day
2. Erotika
3. Burnin Sky
4. Black Waters
5. Play The Game
6. Subliminal Dream
7. Sun Red Sun
BONUS TRACKS (remastered EP “Sound Mountain Sessions”):
8. Slow Drag
9. World Of Chance
10. City Of Freedom
11. Sucka
