I reviewed the ADRENALINE MOB EP last year and at the time I liked the bands sound of straight-ahead, no frills metal mixed with some modern elements but I ultimately thought the five songs on the EP lacked variety. The music was a little repetitive from song to song and I said I’d like to hear a full release when it came along to hear if the band could improve on that aspect.
Well here they are in 2012 with “Omertà” and the first thing I really liked right off the bat was the album cover. The artwork is perfectly suited for the bands moniker and sound and that certainly gets them some points before even putting the disc into the CD player. There aren’t a lot of albums you can say that about these days and it is an important part of the overall experience for me.
Now let’s dive into “Omertà” and see if it can keep the good vibes going. There are four songs, which were featured on the EP from last year so I am familiar with some of the material but the opener “Undaunted” is a new one for me. The song is certainly reminiscent of the material from the EP so I knew more or less what to expect. “Undaunted” is an aggressive and abrasive tune with tons of attitude; similar to something along the lines of DISTRUBED. The razor sharp riffs of Mike Orlando cut through the song as Russell Allen shows off his pipes. Orlando goes off for close to a minute with his solo and it’s a good beginning for “Omertà” if not a little familiar at the same time.
Up next is the track “Psychosane”, which is the song that opened up the EP last year. The song has a bit more melody in the chorus (yet it’s no less aggressive in attitude) than the first track and I am more than happy to say the band addressed something I had issue with from the song as it was presented in its EP form. The break that leads into the solo had an out of place “death metal” style vocal with the repeated line “going psychosane / motherfuckin’ psychosane”. It sounded forced and almost like an effort to give the song “street cred” or something. I didn’t think it needed to be there and on this finished version they toned down and buried the vocals in the mix so it is not as prevalent and it works much better. It was a good move by the band/producer.
“Indifferent” is another tune not on the EP and the band shifts gears a bit with a more accessible style. The song reminds me of 80’s metal in a way with a more melodic approach. Russell Allen can do it all, whether its balls-out metal growling or the more melodic side of things and this song is a good one to show that. “All On The Line” continues with the more melodic side of the band and this song is another cool side of ADRENALINE MOB. The song comes off as a little bit of WHITESNAKE mixed with some BADLANDS and other late 80’s/early 90’s hard rock sounds. This is seriously cool stuff with acoustics mixed in with power cords and the soaring vocals of Allen. I like it and as weird as it might sound I can actually hear a bit of Chris Cornell in Allen’s vocals and that’s not a bad thing either. The variety in the bands music so far is exactly what I felt was missing from the EP and I’m glad that seems to be a corrected with “Omertà”.
“Hit The Wall” (a song also featured on the EP) cranks things back to the aggressive side with a song more like the first two tracks. It’s a modern sounding song with some elements of PANTERA at times.
The next trio of tracks is all fresh cuts that hadn’t made an appearance on the EP. “Feelin’ Me” is a somewhat weak track which suffers from the “Psychosane” (EP version) syndrome. The chorus is “I’m gonna stand up and fight / Gonna knockout the sky / Cause I don’t give a shit / You mother fuckers feelin’ me?” It just comes off as sounding a little forced and even Allen’s vocals aren’t as convincing on this one. “Come Undone” is the DURAN DURAN track, which has been turned on its ear and given the ADRENALINE MOB treatment. It has the same vibe as the original but is obviously more abrasive; something like EVANESCENCE with male vocals. It’s a solid version and a little bit of a left turn for the band, which again is something that was missing with songs presented on the bands EP. Of note is the inclusion of Lizzy Hale (HALESTORM) on the song providing some guest backing vocals. “Believe Me” harkens back to the aggressive side of the band but has a slightly melodic chorus to go along with the aggressive tone. Orlando goes off with some “Dimebag” Darrell guitar sounds and that seems to be a comfort zone for him.
“Down To The Floor” is the last of the songs that appeared on the EP last year and the song has little bit of a WHITE ZOMBIE feel, especially with how Russell Allen approaches his vocals.
“Angel Sky” is another one of those melodic songs with an 80’s metal power ballad feel but without being quite so whimpy and the track “Freight Train” ends the record on an aggressive note and is akin to something like SAVATAGE (from the “Handful of Rain” era) The last two songs again show how the band definitely has two different approaches on the record with some songs being more aggressive and modern in feel and others harkening back to the glory days of 80’s melodic hard rock and metal. I can live comfortably with both sounds but I wonder how fans of each sound will accept it as a whole.
In the end I got what I wanted after hearing the EP. I certainly got more variety in the songs and individually, Russell Allen and Mike Orlando stand out for their contributions to the record time and time again. “Omertà” is a solid record with a couple different styles on display and something that could be interesting if it given the chance to continue. Problem is with Mike Portnoy having his hand in so many projects and Russell Allen having a “day job” with SYMPHONY X, they might not get the chance. Time will tell I guess.
