Ok, first of all, I have to admit to that, despite the fact that Fatal Smile’s music is in a genre of music I normally dig, I have never been a fan. Quite the opposite. On the earlier albums, the production is somewhat messy and they just haven’t written songs that sticks or goes anywhere. Their albums were, to put it straight, never any good. Yes, I know that the guys put on a great live show and they’re all very good musicians, but still my expectations weren’t exactly sky high for this one.
But it took just one listen to opening track and first single ”Welcome To Freakshow” to realize that the boys were on to something really cool here. The song is catchy with a groove and I’m thinking, this is how it would sound if you put Marilyn Manson, Mötley Crüe and Rob Zombie in a blender. ”Raising Hell In Heaven” is great. Heavy and catchy in a Skid Row-ish way, ”Judgement Day” is a brilliant metal song, heavy as Hell and ”Broken Heart” is pop and heavy metal at the same time, heavy but with a big hit feel. ”My Private Hell” is somewhat schizophrenic in a good way. Think Bon Jovi goes heavy metal. ”For The Last In Line” is an amazing ballad and a tribute to Ronnie James Dio and they do a killer job dropping Dio titles throughout the song.
The performances are great by all band members and singer Blade has a big, deep and heavy voice, still with lots of melody. To find a bad song on this album is an impossible task, still there are the odd filler or two and they still need to work on the production. The mix is a bit messy and the instruments needs to be more separated. Other than that, there is nothing to complain about. They look great, they put on a killer show and now
they have the songs to make them go all the way. It sure did rock my socks off.
Jon Wilmenius (8/10)
Tracklist:
01. Welcome To The Freakshow
02. Nailed To The Wall
03. Raisning Hell In Heaven
04. Judgement Day
05. Broken Heart
06. My Private Hell
07. Scarecrow
08. Innocent
09. Break This Chains
10. Take It To The Limit
11. For The Last In Line
CD & Festival reviews 