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Penetrator: Penetrator

Like classic early 80's styled heavy metal? Does your CD collection consist of bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Armored Saint, Grim Reaper, Overkill, Anthrax, and Metallica? If so, then the debut from Canadian act Penetrator will be right up your alley. With nine tracks filled with thick guitar riffs, histrionic vocals, and pummeling drum work, this album is a non-stop barrage of classic sounding metal, long on energy and charisma, if a little short on originality. Tunes like the rampaging "Spread the Mind" and "Unleash the Fury" crackle with static electricity, as the guitars of Bess Ross (he was Tony Iommi's guitar tech during Black Sabbath's Never Say Die tour) lay down thick slabs of molten mayhem, and the vocals of Maxel Black soar through the night. The band conjures up some intense doomy grooves on "Guns and Whiskey", featuring hot wah-wah guitar leads and a killer riff, while "Muso in a Bottle" recalls early Scorpions and has some gymnastic bass lines from David Green. Other highlights include the raging thrash of "Adulteress", the Priest influenced "Shock Therapy", and the complex & groove laden "Penetrator".
In short, a promising debut from a band that, given a good producer and a label that can promote them the right way, should generate some serious interest from fans who clamor for those classic metal sounds.

Track Listing
1. Unleash The Fury
2. Spread The Mind
3. Guns and Whiskey
4. Muso In A Bottle
5. Adulteress
6. Wheels of Justice
7. Shock Therapy
8. Templars of Hate
9. Penetrator

Added: December 3rd 2005
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2777
Language: english

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Penetrator: Penetrator
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2005-12-03 08:12:04
My Score:

Toronto Canada's Penetrator have brought listeners a healthy dose of traditional styled Heavy Metal that mixes elements of the Power genre with the very familiar feel to a nice result. Founder Ross is an industry veteran and has dealt with some of the most prominent figures in Heavy Metal history. The music laid down on the album is strongly influenced by the likes of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and has a quick solid drive throughout most of the piece. Joining "Bulldog" Bess Ross (guitars); the lineup is completed by David Green (bass), Maxel Black (vocals) and Ogie Dawg (their newest member of drums). The recording features the drumming of Simon Vanderzand who also engineered and mixed the CD. This is a tight lineup that certainly shows a degree of energy throughout the whole record. However of the nine total songs making the debut you will find that it is a very short release that runs just over 30 minutes. Despite this the group does get its point across by slamming out track after track with several highlights. I liked the opener "Unleash The Fury", "Adulteress" and "Wheels Of Justice" the most and found myself referring back to those particular tracks on follow-up listens.

In today's Metal World the music has a good chance of becoming something even bigger. I think they need to expand on the themes they have set forth and mix more of the new feel with the traditional that will help them raise the bar over their peers. The Sonic Age records release includes all of the tracks from the band's demo effort Unleash The Fury so I am not sure if a re-recording was done or just a re-issue of the tracks under the labels name. I think we are seeing the start of something promising and it proves that the US is not alone in its fight to bring more Power Metal to this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

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