DEATH DEALER – Warmaster

What’s in a name? That’s what people usually say when you comment (often when it’s done in a negative way) on some band’s name. Well, sometimes it’s everything, or at least a whole damn lot. What kind of music do you think of when you hear a name like Death Dealer? Well, yes, heavy metal or some form of metal, naturally. When you decide on a name like this, talk about painting yourself into a corner. On the other hand, wouldn’t it be really cool if Death Dealer played jazz-pop or something? But they don’t, of course, Death Dealer plays… wait for it… metal! How predictable. Death Dealer is Ross The Boss of Manowar’s new outfit – which is so ironic when you know the fact that Ross’ replacement in Manowar, David Shankle, went under the name “Death Dealer” under his short stint in that band. Prior to this, Ross released two solo albums (well, he claimed that Ross The Boss was name of the band, but…) full of Manowar-like heavy metal and to be honest, they weren’t really that good. Now, Ross left Manowar back in 1988 because he was fed up with their image and he also stated that he was growing tired of metal and wanted to play more bluesy hard rock. He joined forces with Handsome Dick Manitoba (with whom he had played in The Dictators prior to Manowar) in Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom and he also reunited with Shakin’ Street (another pre-Manowar band to Ross). That’s why it felt weird that Ross then started a solo career in metal that didn’t sound like anything else than a poor man’s Manowar.

As you might have guessed, I didn’t hold high hopes for this release when I heard it was out. Not that I have anything against Ross – quite the opposite. I find him to be a good guitar player, easily the best one Manowar ever had and I also think that after he left, Manowar were never the same again. I have never heard that he had a fallout or such with his former bandmates Joey DeMaio and / or Eric Adams either, so I don’t see why a reunion couldn’t be in the cards. Anyway, enough of that, Ross has a new album and a new band, a band that has more Manowar connections than Ross as they also hold ex Manowar drummer Kenny Earl “Rhino” Edwards. Other members are vocalist Sean Peck (Cage), guitarist Stu Marshall and bassist Mike Davis (Halford, Lizzy Borden). The album sets off with one of its title tracks, “Death Dealer”, a song that more or less sets the standard for the record. It’s  a worn out Judas Priest “Painkiller” pastiche, that really doesn’t work at all. “Never To Kneel” is pretty good though, it has a Manowar feel to it, the other title track “Warmaster” is hard, fast and aggressive, but unstructured and I just don’t get the melody at all and “Children Of Flames”, a heavy metal ballad, bares heavy similarities to Savatage, only not as great. The song is not bad, though. On “Curse Of The Heretic” they are trying their best to create a King Diamond vibe. Did they succeed? Well, let’s just say they gave it their best shot. “Hammer Down” is a really good track, though. Here they have put Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate and Manowar in a blender and just went for it – and it turned really good.

Unfortunately, the good times come way too seldom on this album. I’m not gonna compare it to the Ross The Boss albums – even though they’re both metal, the two projects doesn’t sound the same at all. But what they both have in common is that I don’t like either of them. This album keeps on rolling on in the same direction all the way through – double bass drums played really fast, screaming vocals with a huge Priest influence – Ripper era, not Halford – and chugging guitars, on and on and on. It’s just too much of the same thing and it didn’t take me many spins to grow tired of this. With the two bonus tracks “Judge, Jury And Executioner” and “Triumph And Victory”, the album is way too long and it makes the album become really tiresome. When Ross keeps on making halfarsed albums like this and Manowar hasn’t really cut it in ages – their latest album The Lord Of Steel didn’t make many fans happy – isn’t it really time for Ross and Manowar to put their irons into the fire together and make one great band instead of two that are decent at their best? I really hate bashing musicians that I used to dig, but there’s not much else that can be done here. Or maybe it’s just me – maybe I just don’t get the concept of this. Still, I’m a sucker for a really good metal album, but in my book, this is not one of those.

Jon Wilmenius (4/10)

Tracklist:

01. Death Dealer
02. Never To Kneel
03. Warmaster
04. Children Of Flames
05. Curse Of The Heretic
06. Hammer Down
07. Devil’s Mile
08. Liberty Or Death
09. Heads, Spikes, Walls
10. Wraiths On The Wind
11. Judge, Jury And Executioner
12. Triumph And Victory