LYNAM – Halfway To Hell

Why this band has never come to my attention before this E.P. was released is really beyond me. The fact that they have released no less than six albums since their debut White Trash Superstar back in 2002 and the sleazy kind of hard rock that they play is right up my alley makes it even more strange. Their other releases are Bling! Bling! (2003), Life In Reverse (2004), Slave To The Machine (2006), Tragic City Symphony (2008) and Thank You Good Night (2010) for all of you who might find them interesting enough to go back and check their earlier stuff out. How was this band brought to my attention then? Well, the name Lynam was first spotted when I wrote the review for ex – Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler’s new band Adler and their fantastic debut album Back From The Dead (2012) (https://etainmentnewsreviews.wordpress.com/classic-rock/classic-rock-reviews-2012/adler-back-from-the-dead/). Now here’s the deal, Steven Adler stole / borrowed singer / guitarist Jacob Bunton and lead guitarist Lonny Paul to form Adler together with bass player Johnny Martin – why Lynam bassist Mark Dzier wasn’t also brought in to join Adler isn’t known. Maybe because he didn’t join Lynam until this year, replacing Cody Elliott. Now, it seems the perfect time for Jacob and Lonny (who also joined Lynam for this album) to work on Lynam when Steven Adler is kicking his alcohol habit in rehab. Did I forget someone? Well, there’s the guy who gave the band its name, drummer David Lynam. He feels kinda important to this info…

So what to expect of this lot then? Well, if you listened to the Adler album, you’ll get a pretty good idea. In fact, the bands sometimes sound so alike that it’s almost impossible to separate the two. Which instantly made me think about the song writers for the band Adler. I mean, I never saw Steven Adler as a song writer per se and with the high quality songs on Adler’s record, I suspected that his band might be heavily involved in that department. Well, this album kinda proves that, much to the fact that this album really could be the follow up to the Adler album. I really need to go back and check out Lynam’s earlier stuff – bands this good really shouldn’t go unnoticed. The album blows up in your face with raw and rocking “Rise Up”, a song that mixes rawness with a brilliant melody, the title track follows and the song is really sleazy, but with a distinct hook and catchiness to kill for, “Dead Man’s Parade” is a heavy and dark piece, but it’s still rocks hard and it’s very memorable and “Cold” is just awesome –  a dark pop song. “Store Bought Halo” brings a shot of punk into this very catchy glam rocker and the last track “Wrong Side Of The Grave” has a pretty big metal influence that makes the song the heaviest piece on here – heavy, but still melodic enough to stick.

Now that I have gone through the six songs on this E.P., it’s not that hard to imagine in what genre this band is moving in – if you’re only into hardcore metal, grunge, nu metal or black and death, then this is not for you. But for everyone who loves their rock dirty, sleazy, groovy, melodic, heavy and catchy, there are a lot for us to digest here. The band certainly has a thing for the sleazy stuff that was popular in the 80’s and to name Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe as influences isn’t a wild guess, but I can also spot both Alice Cooper and Kiss here. Now to the big question, why make this only an E.P.? When I hear six tracks this great, then I want more. Only six songs doesn’t leave me satisfied at all and when the album comes to an end, I get the feeling that something is missing. Four additional tracks maybe? At least! It’s actually pissing me off. I got the same feeling with the latest Skid Row E.P., only this one is better. Ok, now that I got this off my chest, enough whining and let’s hope for a long player next time. Until then, I’ll keep listening to this and I really need to see if I can find their back catalogue somehow. I recommend you to do the same!

Jon Wilmenius (8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Rise Up
2. Halfway To Hell
3. Dead Man’s Parade
4. Cold
5. Store Bought Halo
6. Wrong Side Of The Grave