| CD REVIEW Disaster Peace |
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Band: Disaster Peace Remember guitarist Pete Blakk (aka Peter Jacobsson)? Starting his career in Swedish/ Danish Traditional Heavy Metal act Trazer (which only delivered the one 7-inch single in 1981), he moved on to Copenhagen based Danish Heavy Metal act Geisha in 1985 (a band which had featured drummer Mickey Dee, whom would go on to play with King Diamond and Motorhead, in its ranks when they sfirst started out, and produced 3 demos before issuing their only album Phantasmagoria on British quality label Heavy Metal Worldwide during 1987), where he was snatched away to join King Diamond. Alongside fellow axeman Andy LaRocque (and Hal Patino, bassist recruited at the same time), he contributed to the albums Them (1988), Conspiracy (1989), and The Eye (1990). The collaboration came to an end soon after the latter album’s release, King opting to reform Mercyful Fate. Blakk returned in 1995 with the self-titled Blakk Totem EP (formed in 1993, the original line-up also included Patino and renowned drummer Jaime Salazar), followed by full-length album The Secret Place (released through Koch, the album just recently was re-issued with 3 bonus tracks). After that, Blakk took a sabatical, which would remove him from the world of music for about a decade! But blood is thicker than water, and the music bug is one difficult to remove from a man’s vein…especially when some of your better friends (in this case Andy LaRocque) are still very active in the music bisiness…so eventually Blakk picked up his guitar again. About a year ago he moved to Tampa (Florida) to work with singer Wade Black (known from Leatherwolf, Crimson Glory, Seven Witches, …). One day, Wade asked Pete to join his local band for a guest performance at a Tampa club, and somehow the news went around quickly enough for several King Diamond fans to show up and turn the gig upside down, party-style! It was exactly what Blakk needed to start a band again, and so Disaster Peace (initially Disasterpeace) was born, with Wade doing lead vocals, Hal Patino on the bass, and Jasin Marxx on the drums (Blakk himself not only providing all guitars, but also the occasional keyboards and backing vocals). Part of the album was recorded at a Tampa friend’s studio, but th rest was done at SonicTrain Studios in Sweden, owned by Blakk’s good friend Andy LaRocque, who’s also co-producer…and brings a guest lead guitar part to one song, “Hallowed Death”. The resulting 13-track [2 of which (the album title track intro and “Purgatoria”) are short instrumentals lasting under one minute, another (the calmer, balladesque “Inferno”) is a full-length instrumental, and the scorching although perhaps somewhat repetitive album closing “Kill ‘em And Love ‘Em” is instrumental but for the title’s words being repeated] album has me personally weighing the balance between rejection and acceptance! In other words, it’s awoken rather controversial reactions in this here person! While each song seperatedly brings above enough positive feelings (the album is most certainly the heaviest material Blakk has ever made, and Wade certainly fills the songs in quite admirably in this style we’ve come to know him for)…certain songs have a rather similar approach, and when such tracks are not separated from each other with some interludium, you’ll think having to do with one long track in stead of two. For instance, album opening song “Scarecrow” and the ensuing “S & M” are both driven by a very downtuned rhythm guitar play (which results in the underlaying melodies being drowned out somewhat), and the ending leads of the first are really quite similar to the opening lead of the second…on top of which the vocal melodies are somewhat similar as well! Luckily, the guys alter their vocal approach somewhat with the incertion of additional growled vocals during “Judas Witch”, but only to play the same trick in the ensuing “Hallowed Death” as well! A nice surprise comes with the acoustic “Don’t Come Back”…but don’t expect a ballad, because underneath the words speaks the darkness of hatred more clearly expressed here than in any of the more aggressive songs! A nice calmer interlude (the third actually, counting the album intro and “Purgatoria”, which followed “S & M”). What comes next is thé mistake on this album, with the band covering Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” in a far too heavy version which breaks down all the little delicacies of the original version. If only Wade had made the “ooh-ooh” interludes and ending a bit more melodic, the version might’ve been acceptable. As things stand…I simply don’t like what the guys did with that classic track, see!? Before ending the album with the above mentioned “Inferno” and “Kill ‘Em All And Love ‘Em”, you still get three more tracks, “Blood To Blood”, “The Goaler”, and “My Guns”…all of which profit of somewhat less low-played rhythm guitars, which helps considerably to make the lead parts come through more prominently. At myspace.com/peteblakkmusic, you’ll only find a 3-minute sample of “Scarecrow” (alongside one track off each of the King Diamond albums Pete contributed to) to listen to. A (3-minute) sample of “S & M” is available at myspace.com/musicbuymaileu. Which really ain’t enough to make your mind up with, so my advice to you, is to wait until the album is in the record stores, then give the album a complete listening session! 82/100 Tony. |